Wildcats' 24-win season ends to MSU

MICHIGAN STATE 72 ð UA 60

AUSTIN, Texas ÷ It was another disappointing end to another great season for Wildcat women's hoops.

No. 8 seed Michigan State grabbed an early lead and refused to let go, upending ninth-seeded Arizona 72-60 in the University of Texas' Frank Erwin Center last night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats (24-9) saw their second-straight 20-plus-win season end in the first round of the tournament again. Last year's 22-win squad entered the NCAAs as a No. 6 seed, but was upset by No. 11 seed Notre Dame. [Read article]

First-round loss caps sluggish hoops season

It wasn't supposed to end this way.

But for everyone close to the Arizona men's basketball team ÷ from players and coaches to every UA student who bleeds cardinal and navy ÷ is it ever supposed to end like this?

"We just didn't get the job done," said UA head coach Lute Olson following his team's second-half collapse against Seton Hall Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C. [Read article]

With only one game to go until its game against Team USA and head coach Mike Candrea, the Arizona softball team seemed destined to have a perfect record going into the matchup. Then came Pac-10 rival Washington.

The No. 1 Wildcats (34-1) were upset by the No. 9 Huskies 7-6 yesterday in the championship game of the Kia Klassic, in Fullerton, Calif., after setting the school record for wins to open a season. Arizona's record against ranked teams fell to 12-1. [Read article]

Busch named NCAA Coach of Year for the second time

The UA women's swim and dive team enjoyed a banner week over spring break.

Not only did the Wildcats finish third at last weekend's NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas, but head coach Frank Busch was also named NCAA Coach of the Year. It was his second time receiving the award.

To top it off, junior Emily Mason took the national title in the 400-meter freestyle, breaking the NCAA record in the event by posting a time of 4:01.58. [Read article]

After the Wildcats' season ended Thursday with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Seton Hall, three UA men's basketball players discussed their respective futures with the team.

Juniors Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire and sophomore Andre Iguodala addressed rumors that they may leave early to enter the professional ranks in the locker room following the loss.

Frye and Stoudamire both said they would return for their senior years. Iguodala did not give a definite answer as to what his future plans might be. [Read article]

The Arizona gymnastics team continued to put up high scores, this time at the Pac-10 Championships Friday in McKale Center, but could only manage a tie for fourth against its stellar league rivals.

The No. 15 Gymcats (10-8-1, 2-3-1 Pacific 10 Conference) extended their school record of meets with at least 196 points to nine in a row with a score of 196.775, the seventh best mark in team history, good enough for fourth in a meet that saw three scores of 10 awarded. [Read article]

Long Beach State put the finishing touches on a three-game sweep of the Arizona baseball team Saturday with a 4-2 win.

49er starter Jason Vargas (3-4) yielded five hits and no runs in seven innings of work to earn the win. UA's Kevin Guyette (3-3) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits in 5.1 innings.

No. 17 Arizona (11-10-1) didn't get on the board until the top of the eighth, when junior Pat Reilly smacked his third homer of the year, a solo shot. Sophomore Jordan Brown was the only UA player to amass more than one hit, going 2-for-4. [Read article]

The Arizona track and field teams kept busy over spring break, venturing to Arkansas for the NCAA Indoor Championships and hosting their second home meet of the season, the Willie Williams Classic and Dave Murray Distance Carnival.

Friday and Saturday, Arizona welcomed over 1,100 athletes from 27 high schools, 14 colleges and several track clubs. The collegiate squads included Pacific 10 Conference rival Washington, in addition to teams from British Columbia, BYU, Central Arizona, Glendale Community College, Idaho, Mesa Community College, Minnesota, New Mexico State, Pima Community College, Wayne State and Western State. [Read article]

The Arizona men's tennis team followed two conference losses over the first weekend of spring break with two decisive wins over nonconference opponents this weekend.

After losing to UCLA 7-0 and to USC 6-1, the Wildcats came back strong, defeating Ball State 7-0 and Clemson 6-1. Arizona improved to 10-6 with its latest two wins and holds a No. 25 ranking.

"It's good to play those type of teams," said junior Colin O'Grady of UCLA and USC, despite the fact that O'Grady and his doubles partner sophomore Roger Matalonga did not win either doubles match versus the LA schools. "All the matches were close, and a lot of them came down to a few points." [Read article]

The Wildcat women golfers headed out yesterday for the first round of the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational without their top gun.

The absence of sophomore Erica Blasberg showed as the ladies fell to 12th place with only one golfer in the top 30 after Sunday's round.

The tournament, held in Austin, Texas, is the first for the Wildcats after more than three weeks off, and the rust showed as they stumbled to a 39-over-par 327, their worst round of the year and 18 shots back of host Texas. [Read article]

The Arizona men's golf team won its third team title of the season yesterday at the Hall of Fame Invitational in Humble, Texas.

Senior Chris Nallen took the individual title in the event after shooting 2-under-par 70 in yesterday's final round to put him at 202 (-14) for the tournament. He finished six strokes ahead of his nearest competitor while winning his third title of the year.

As a team, Arizona shot 2-under 286 yesterday to finish at 846 (-18) for the weekend, six strokes ahead of Oklahoma State. [Read article]

The Arizona women's tennis team could not surmount the tough Los Angeles schools during the first weekend of break.

The Wildcats fell 6-1 to No. 12 UCLA on March 12th and 5-2 to No. 11 USC on March 13th. The No. 29 Wildcats fell to 4-7 on the year as they struggled to find their way in singles play.

"It was disappointing," said assistant coach Petar Danolic. "The girls played hard but we were hoping to get one of those. We know where we need to get better." [Read article]

AUSTIN, TEXAS ö The Wildcats were compelled into doing what they didn't want to do ö and what they couldn't do.

The Arizona women's basketball team was forced into playing Michigan State's type of game in its season-ending loss last night. The Spartans, who have several wide bodies in the paint, made the Wildcats adjust to their style of slow-paced, aggressive basketball.

That's why UA head coach Joan Bonvicini limited sophomore forward CoCoa Sanford, who typically averages 15-20 minutes per game off the bench, to four minutes of playing time ö all in the first half. [Read article]