JON HELGASON/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman center Shawntinice Polk was named tournament MVP and posted her record fifth straight double-double as Arizona defeated UC Riverside and Illinois over the weekend.

It definitely wasn't the best basketball the Wildcats have played all year, but they did what they wanted to get done.

Arizona won the 2002 Fiesta Bowl Women's Basketball Classic this weekend with two wins. This was the sixth time in the last eight years that the Wildcats have won their own tournament, but it was the outcome of last year's tournament that made this one that much more enjoyable.

The Wildcats finished last in their own tournament last season for the first time ever. They made sure that didn't happen again this year.

"Whenever you have a tournament at home, you have to win," freshman center Shawntinice Polk said. "One of our first goals was to win our tournament and we did that."

Yesterday, Arizona (4-1) beat the previously undefeated Illinois (5-1) 75-73 in the championship game. The Wildcats earned the right to play for the title with a 95-66 win over the University of California Riverside on Saturday.

The Wildcats struggled in the championship game, but two late miscues by the Illini helped Arizona hang on. Illinois had two turnovers in the last minute, trailing by two points that sealed their fate against the No. 21 Wildcats.

With 35 seconds left and the Wildcats leading 75-73, Illinois guard Brett Leonard threw a pass out of bounds after heavy pressure by the Arizona defense. The Wildcats were unable to add any more points on their next possession and gave the ball back to Illinois with ten seconds left and a chance to tie or take the lead. However, another turnover by Leonard gave the Wildcats the tournament win.

Head coach Joan Bonvicini said that although her team did not play as it had previously, pulling out the victory will help the team in the long run.

"The season is still young, but we needed to win a close game," Bonvicini said.

It looked as though the Wildcats would cruise to another big win when they started out the game with a 20-10 lead, but the Illini were able to hang around and not let the Wildcats pull away. Behind a tournament-record eight three-pointers, Illinois tied the game with three minutes to go in the first half, and it was back and fourth for the entire second half.

Every time it seemed as though the Wildcats were going to put some distance between themselves and the Illini, Illinois would answer. No stretch was bigger than midway through the Wildcats' nine-point lead in the second half. Illinois guard Tiffanie Guthrie hit two consecutive three-pointers and closed the lead to three. However, it was the Illini inability to control the ball in the waning moments that proved bigger than any shot.

"It was a huge win for us," Bonvicini said. "We were tired at times and made some tough decisions, but we gutted it out."

The Wildcats committed 23 turnovers and played sloppily at times.

Arizona was led by Polk, the tournament's MVP. Polk had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and gave the Wildcats their fourth win of the season. This was Polk's fifth straight game with a double-double, and was the first time any player in the program's history has has achieved such a feat.

"(Polk) is a special player," Bonvicini said. "The thing that makes her really special is her ability to make the player around her better. The thing I like most about her is she's all about the team."

Game one recap

Arizona used a 24-8 start against UC Riverside to win the opening game of the Fiesta Bowl Classic 95-66 over the Highlanders.

The Wildcats' size and quickness frustrated UC Riverside during the entire game and never let them get close. Arizona played a good transition game and scored a lot of fast break points.

Sophomore guard Dee-Dee Wheeler benefited most from the Wildcats' up-tempo style of play. Last year's Pacific-10 Conference freshman of the year scored a career-high 28 points and earned first team all-tournament honors for the weekend.

Polk also played a big role for the Wildcats. She added 18 points to go along with her 16 rebounds. The Wildcats had four different players in double digits in scoring. Senior forward Krista Warren scored 16 points and junior guard Aimee Grzyb added 15.

The Wildcats will return to action next Sunday when the team travels to Columbus to take on Ohio State.