MIKE MEISINGER/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA forward Liz Pickney attempts a shot in the post against two USA Elite players Saturday in McKale Center. The Wildcats won, 88-65, in their final exhibition game before the start of the regular season.

UA beats final exhibition opponent before regular season

Arizona women's basketball picked up the pace Sunday afternoon against USA Elite, a National Women's Basketball League team, and never looked back.

The Wildcats defeated USA Elite 88-65, making them 2-0 against exhibition opponents for the season.

UA jumped off to an early lead, going on a 19-0 run to begin the first half.

It took USA Elite more than six minutes to score a point.

The senior duo of forward Elizabeth Pickney and center LaKeisha Taylor once again proved overwhelming for UA opponents.

Pickney led the Wildcats in scoring with 29 points, adding 12 rebounds and two assists.

Taylor followed closely with 21 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.

"That's our strength, and it should be our strength," UA coach Joan Bonvicini said. "Our other players just need to pick and choose when to put it up."

Bonvicini said the Wildcats have made some improvements since last week's exhibition win against Team Concept, a club team.

She said Arizona did a better job of rebounding, and the guards improved at finding Pickney and Taylor in the post.

Sophomore point guard Aimee Grzyb directed the UA offense, scoring 10 points and dishing out nine assists in the Wildcat victory.

Shooting guard Julie Brase continued to struggle with her jump shot but managed to score eight points, all in the second half.

Despite the strong performance in the first half, the Wildcats looked a little sloppy in the second half, Bonvicini said.

Grzyb agreed.

"Our legs are definitely tired right now and we didn't play as well in the second half," Grzyb said. "The other team came back wanting it a little more than they did the first half."

UA got a scare when sophomore Candice Allen suffered a cut on her right eyelid with little more than six minutes remaining in the first half. Allen managed to return in the second half and finished the day with three rebounds, two points and one assist.

Bonvicini said Allen would not need stitches and that the injury was minor.

The injury is one of many the Wildcats have faced before the start of their regular season.

UA lost sophomore Jenn Chesney to an ACL injury in preseason warm-ups.

Freshman Katrina Lindner was forced to redshirt her freshman season after suffering an ankle injury during Arizona's Red-Blue game.

Rutgers transfer Mandakova Clark has been absent for all of Arizona's three exhibition games, and the Wildcats will have to play without sophomore Veranda James, who left the team before the season citing personal reasons.

Arizona will be challenged this weekend when it plays its first regular season game against Pepperdine at home Sunday afternoon. Although Bonvicini said some changes need to be made prior to the game, the Wildcats are ready to exact revenge against the Waves, who beat them last season.

"I still think we have a lot to work on and we'll do that this week," Bonvicini said. "This (win) is definitely a big confidence booster and we're going to have a good team. We'll grow - just give it time."