Win over Washington makes UA co-champs

Joan Bonvicini struggled to keep a straight face in the final moments of Arizona's win over Washington on Saturday.

But when the game ended with her team celebrating in the middle of the Huskies' home court, the UA women's head coach couldn't fight it any longer.

Bonvicini flashed a big smile. For the first time in school history, her Wildcats were Pacific 10 Conference champs. [Read article]

UA 72 ð WAZZU 60

When all was said and done, the only person who had a chance to cool down Salim Stoudamire was teammate Kirk Walters, who lightened the air in the UA locker room by dousing his teammates with ice water during their postgame showers.

"It feels like we've got a huge monkey off our backs," Walters said.

Walters' reaction, coupled with a few new displays of team unity among his teammates, spoke volumes for the type of changes the Arizona men's basketball team made before and during its 72-60 win over Washington State Saturday in McKale Center. [Read article]

We're not sure what Salim Stoudamire did to earn his one-game suspension. Rumors suggest there was a physical altercation with a teammate, but no one knows what happened except those who were there.

But it must have taken something serious for head coach Lute Olson to use the phrase "suspended indefinitely" ÷ a term you "never hear" from the coach, as UA play-by-play man Dave Sitton noted.

With everything surrounding the situation that we don't know, we know this: Stoudamire screwed up, and screwed up badly. [Read article]

The UA softball team got its first scare this weekend against No. 7 Stanford in the Worth Wildcat Invitational, but won 7-5 to win the tourney and bring its unbeaten streak to 21 games.

Sophomore utility player Shelly Schultz hit a two-run home run ÷ her sixth of the season ÷ with two outs in the sixth inning to give the Wildcats the victory. Schultz was instrumental in getting the bats heated up for the Wildcats in the fourth inning with her first homer of the game ÷ a solo shot. [Read article]

The Arizona baseball team wrapped up a series win against Baylor a little sooner than expected this weekend.

The probability of rain yesterday in Waco, Texas, forced the No. 16 Wildcats to play a doubleheader Saturday against the No. 15 Bears.

Arizona (7-5-1) used three runs in the final two innings of the second game on Saturday to win the series.

The Wildcats beat the Bears 2-1 Friday, lost 10-2 in the first game Saturday and used a late-inning comeback to beat Baylor 5-3 in game two of the double-dip. [Read article]

Though the No. 11 Arizona gymnastics team scored a school-record 196 or better in its sixth straight meet, the vital numbers went to ASU, 197.700-196.225 Friday night in Tempe's Wells Fargo Arena.

The Sun Devils set three records on the night en route to the upset. ASU boasted team-high scores on vault (49.650), floor (49.825) and a personal record in the all-around by Sun Devil sophomore Ashley Kelly (39.825). [Read article]

The Arizona women's swimming and diving team completed the 2004 Pac-10 Championships Saturday with a total of 1,221.50 points. Junior Jessica Hayes took home the Pac-10 title in the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:56.41.

In the platform diving competition, UA freshman Mary Yarrison finished in third place (377.30 points) and senior Daniela Bemme finished fourth (371.05). [Read article]

The women's tennis team played their first match in two weeks and its made it count, defeating No. 25 Arizona State 5-2 in Tempe.

The No. 40 Wildcats gained confidence from the start after winning two of three doubles matches. That set the stage for singles play, in which Arizona won four of six matches.

"It felt great," said assistant coach Petar Danolic. "We really needed this win. Hopefully, this will give us a little momentum going into next weekend." [Read article]

Spurred by strong finishes, Arizona's track teams turned in solid performances Saturday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Seattle.

Though overshadowed by eventual champion UCLA, the men's team moved up one spot in the event's final day to take fourth place overall with 77.5 points. Wildcat senior Kyle Goklish led the charge with a 14:09.51 time in the 5,000 meters, setting a MPSF meet record. [Read article]

The UA men's tennis team upset No. 20 California Saturday to bounce back from a setback the day before at No. 5 Stanford.

With the 4-3 win over Cal, the Wildcats improved to 7-4, while the Bears dropped to 3-5. Arizona lost to Stanford 5-4 on Friday after the match was rescheduled due to rain.

Going into the California match, a school from Arizona had never in history beaten a California school in California. The Wildcats, however, changed that, battling back from a 3-1 deficit to overcome history and the Bears. [Read article]