Polk earns Team USA tryout

After her stellar freshman season, women's basketball star Shawntinice Polk has been noticed around the country, to say the least.

Now she will have a chance to take on the world's best, as she has been invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials, USA Basketball announced on Tuesday. Polk is one of 60 invitees to the Trials, which will be held May 22-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"It's a big one," said head coach Joan Bonvicini of the selection. "She has had an outstanding freshman year and has been working hard during the off-season. To have that opportunity to be able to represent her country is really big."

The USA Trials will be used to select a pair of 12-member 2003 USA Basketball Teams, including the USA World Championship for Young Women and USA Pan-American Games squads. The USA Young Women's National Team, which will be comprised of athletes 21 years old and younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1982), will compete in the inaugural FIBA World Championship for Young Women in Sibenik, Croatia, July 25-Aug. 3. The 2003 Pan-American Games action is set to take place Aug. 2-9 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Ohio State University's Jim Foster will serve as head coach for the 2003 USA Basketball World Championship for Young Women Team, and collegiate head coaches, Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University and Felisha Legette-Jack of Hofstra University will assist Foster. The USA Pan-American Games Team will be piloted by University of Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan, with collegiate head coaches Kathi Bennett of Indiana University and Trina Patterson of the University at Albany acting as assistants.

Polk is the second Wildcat in as many years to be invited to USA Basketball Trials. During the summer of 2002, guard Dee-Dee Wheeler was invited to the trials for the USA Young Women's National Team, but an ankle injury suffered the day before her departure kept her from competing for a spot on the team.

Polk is joined on this year's invitee list by fellow Pac-10 players Nikki Blue (UCLA), Ebony Hoffman (USC), Giuliana Mendiola (Washington) and Nicole Powell (Stanford).

Top-ranked softball to host No. 2 UCLA on Saturday

The No. 1 Arizona softball team (47-4, 16-1) will host No. 2 UCLA (43-5, 15-3) on May 9 at 7 p.m. The Cats will take on No. 4 Washington (40-13-1, 7-11) in a doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. These are the last regular season games for Arizona.

The Wildcats ended their road trip to the Bay Area with a 3-0 record. Senior Lovie Jung was 2-for-4 with one run in the Arizona's 2-1 win over No. 15 Stanford on Saturday. A three-run homerun by junior Mackenzie Vandergeest helped the Wildcats to a 6-0 win over Stanford on Sunday. The game against Cal, originally scheduled for Friday, was moved to Monday because of rain. Arizona defeated Cal, 6-0 with the help of a two-run homerun by Jung in the fifth inning.

Former UA softball pitcher Jennie Finch will have her jersey retired prior to the UA-UCLA game on May 9. The ceremony begins at 6:45. Finch will also throw out the first pitch.