SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat The Arizona women's basketball team had plenty to smile about during its run to the Pac-10 tournament championship game and NCAA tournament, but dropped both games to close the season.

Late season woes overshadow UA's vast improvement

The women's basketball program ended one of its most successful seasons with one of the worst single game performances in recent history.

The Wildcats fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament 59-47 to Notre Dame while shooting a season-low 23.3 percent from the field.

Though the season ended on an extremely flat note, the team's final showing was not indicative of the progress the squad made.

Good news: The Wildcats ended the season with eight more wins than last year and made a return trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years.

Bad news: Arizona picked the worst time to play its worst game of the season.

Like head coach Joan Bonvicini said, a season can't be measured by the results of the team's final contest, but the loss was a tough one to take.

Arizona won 22 games or more for only the fourth time in the program's history and finished the best a Wildcat team ever has in the Pacific-10 Conference when the team tied for second.

But more important than the season's final result are the possibilities for the future. Much like the team's trip to the NCAA tournament, it has good news / bad news possibilities.

Good news: Returning players include their top two scorers in freshman center Shawntinice Polk and sophomore guard Dee-Dee Wheeler along with a strong, young supporting cast. Polk led the Wildcats in scoring with 17.5 points per contest and was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Wheeler was second on the team with 16.5 points per outing and was named to the All-Pac-10 team. Together, the duo makes up one of the best inside / outside combinations of players in the nation; even more impressive is that they are both underclassmen.

"We know we are going to be a good team (next season)," said Bonvicini. "A lot of our young kids played well this season and they will improve."

Bad news: UA will also lose a great inside/outside combination of players. Seniors Krista Warren and Julie Brase are the only two seniors on the team, and their contribution will be missed greatly. Warren was the third leading scorer on the team with just short of 12 points per game and seemed to step up in the Wildcats' big games. Warren led Arizona scorers in the loss to Notre Dame with 17 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds. Brase was a regular in the Wildcats' starting line up and led the team in assists per game. Brase was also one of the team captains and has been described as a coach on the floor.

Good news: Arizona played an extremely tough schedule this season and gained great experience. The Wildcats played five top-25 teams and knocked off No. 8 Georgia at home in the third game of the season and No. 9 Stanford at McKale Center. UA also gained road experience with games at non-conference opponent Ohio State and Wisconsin, but fell in both of them.

Bad news: The Wildcats performed their worst in the biggest games. In the team's two most important games of the season, UA did not look like the team that played the rest of the year. Arizona shot a season-low 23.3 percent from the field in their NCAA tournament loss to Notre Dame with only 47 points. The Wildcats were 17 of 73 from the field, including 2 for 25 from behind the arc.

"I can't tell you why we didn't shoot well, but I am proud of our team," said Bonvicini.

Arizona also struggled in the team's 59-49 loss to Stanford in the Pac-10 Championship game. The Wildcats had an opportunity to win the Pac-10's post-season tournament and improve their seeding for the NCAA tournament with a win over Stanford, but were ineffective early on and entered the NCAA tournament coming off a loss. The Wildcats fell behind early in the first half and were unable to erase that difference.

The end of this season wasn't too pretty, but this season could be the beginning of a prosperous era for Bonvicini's squad.