All the talk on the Arizona women's basketball bench has been about winning a Pacific-10 Conference title and going into the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats came a step closer to realizing those goals with a 79-66 win over No. 20 Washington last night, but there is still work to do.

Arizona used nine different players to wear down the Huskies in front of 2,812 people at the McKale Center.

"(The bench) was huge tonight," said head coach Joan Bonvicini following last night's game. "That will be real important (down the stretch). You can't just rely on a few people. That's why you have your bench. When they get their opportunity you have to grasp it." [Read article]

Here's a clichŽ for you.

Every season has its ups and downs. For any women's basketball team in the country except Connecticut, the downs end up in losses.

To begin the season, UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said she expected a lot from her team. So after losing to No. 3 LSU in the season opener, Bonvicini was down.

The players were disappointed. Hanging with the third-ranked team in the country was not enough. It gave the team some confidence, but the season started at 0-1. [Read article]

A bat, ball and field.

That is just about all the No. 2 Arizona softball team has in common with in-state rival Arizona State, host of this weekend's Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Phoenix.

Forget that the Wildcats will be competing close to Sun Devil territory. For UA, this weekend's tournament has nothing to do with ASU.

"We can't sit back and expect to get better," UA head coach Mike Candrea said. "We need to continue to keep playing and build consistency." [Read article]

This weekend's series versus No. 13 Baylor should provide a formidable opponent for the Arizona baseball team, unlike the last.

The Wildcats scored 49 runs en route to winning the final two games of last weekend's series against Brigham Young University.

"Baylor's a much older team with some success over the years," head coach Andy Lopez said. "This should be more of a challenge for us."

The Wildcats will try to capitalize on last week's offense binge without concentrating directly on the Bears. UA looks to gain experience among their freshman during Alumni Weekend. [Read article]

Whi Kim has known it all along, and it looks like Wildcat opponents are starting to figure it out too.

Kim was the first to say before the season started that the Arizona men's tennis team was a lot better then their preseason No. 62 ranking indicated, and he was right on cue, with the Wildcats starting the season with three straight wins. UA has moved up 14 spots this week to No. 48 in the national rankings. [Read article]

Last week, Gymcat head coach Bill Ryden couldn't imagine what he would do if his team had to travel with all the injuries and illnesses that they had. Luckily, Arizona had a home meet against Arizona State.

This week, he isn't so lucky.

As the No. 10 Gymcats were driving yesterday from St. Louis to the University of Missouri, located in Columbia about two hours away from the airport, all the team could see was dark clouds and snow on the ground ÷ not really the best remedy for a team that has been hit hard by the flu over the last couple weeks. [Read article]

With No. 2 Colorado State looming next week, the No. 6 Men's lacrosse team will prepare itself with two teams with opposite styles, No. 21 UCLA and Loyola Marymount, to open the season this weekend.

The Laxcats' quest to repeat as Western Collegiate Lacrosse League Division A South champions begins on Saturday at Laxcat Coliseum (Murphey Stadium), with a match-up against UCLA (1-0, 0-0), a team considered to be one of its top challengers to the throne. [Read article]

Coming off a successful weekend on the east coast, the UA track and field teams will look to continue their run toward the post-season when they travel to Idaho this weekend.

After qualifying several runners into NCAA post-season play at the Boston Distance Classic this past weekend, Arizona returns to action on Saturday competing in the Boise Elite Invitational.

For first-year head coach Fred Harvey, the importance of this weekend's meet has more to it than at first glance. Boise marks the beginning of the team's championship run, but it will also give the athletes a chance to check out the venue for this year's indoor championships. It is also the team's first of two competitions in Idaho within a three-week span. [Read article]

The No. 6 Icecats look to make a final statement before tournament seeds announced next week.

The Arizona Icecats hit the road again this weekend, literally, embarking on a fifteen-hour, one-way bus trip to face the Rams of Colorado State in Fort Collins, Co., in a two-game set.

The No. 6 Icecats continue to inch closer to their ultimate goal of the program's second national title this weekend, with a two-game weekend series against the Rams. [Read article]

Walk-ons give football more possible choices

A day after the Arizona football team signed 23 players to play for them next season, they went searching for talent in a different way.

The Wildcats held walk-on tryouts for UA students yesterday on the football practice field. About 40 players were put through individual drills, were weighed and measured and had their 40-yard dash time taken. In all, the tryout lasted less than an hour. [Read article]