Jennie Won was two feet away from the McKale Center ticket office window last Monday when it stopped selling student basketball tickets. After calling for tickets for two straight hours later in the week, she came up empty-handed again. But last night, she was awarded two of the best seats in the house and an autographed basketball.

Won, a marketing junior, won the "Name the Student Spirit Shirt" contest, and courtside seats, with her moniker for the student section at the UA men's basketball games: "Zona Zoo." The name will also go on the T-shirts that the Associated Students of the University of Arizona are giving away for free to each student who holds season tickets.

The origin of "Zona" was one of the nicknames for the team from the 1997 national championship season, and "Zoo" was inspired by the rowdier nature of students compared to other UA fans at the games, Won said.

"I think (the shirts) will visibly unite the student section," Won said. "I tried to think of a name that captures the atmosphere of the student section."

There were a lot of good ideas that didn't work because they didn't look good on the shirt or didn't differentiate the student section from the other fans enough, said ASUA senator Peter Wand, who came up with the idea.

"Primarily, what the judges were looking for was something that would make the student section stand out," Wand said. "We just wanted to be different."

The judges of the contest were were Wand, ASUA president Doug Hartz, senior point guard Jason Gardner, coordinator of basketball operations Ryan Hansen, assistant athletics director for marketing and corporate sales Scott MacKenzie, a representative from Pepsi, and Wildcat sports editor Maxx Wolfson.

Pepsi, ASUA, Arizona Athletics and the Arizona Daily Wildcat supported the contest. Pepsi and Arizona Athletics contributed $14,000 to the project and ASUA paid $3,000 to produce 4,300 shirts.

The idea for the shirts began as Wand's campaign promise. He has been going to UA basketball games since he was 3 years old.

Additionally, each side of the arena will have at least one "yell leader," and the Zona Zoo Gazette will be distributed to the students for each game, featuring information about each game and possible chants, Wand said.

Wand believes that the excitement surrounding the No. 1 team in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, with the shirts, the fact that most of the students earned their tickets crushed in the crowd during last Monday's ticket sales at McKale, and the other changes to the student section, will make the section rowdier, which could garner national attention.

"Admittedly, the No. 1 reason the student section will be louder this year is not the shirts. It is because we have the No. 1 team in the nation," Wand said. "Hopefully, even Dick Vitale will give the student section a shout out."

"I think it was a great choice," Gardner said. "I think it will really get the fans into the game."

The other finalist for the name was the "A" Team, though the swimming team had adopted it for this year before the selection was made. The judges also considered names like the "McKale Maniacs," an allusion to the name of the fans at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, or the "Cameron Crazies," but the UA doesn't want to be just like Duke, Wand said.

The shirt is red, with the logo of a Wildcat's face superimposed over "Zona Zoo," printed in the athletic department's new font, "Bear Down Bold."

ASUA wants students to start picking up the shirts at their office in the Student Union Memorial Center on Nov. 14, nine days before the first regular season game against No. 23 Western Kentucky.

Call 621-ASUA for more information, Wand said.

Shirts will not be available for students who only have tickets to the Texas game. It is yet to be determined whether students who have the Holiday Package will receive shirts.