In the 2002-2003 season, the Arizona women's basketball team was secure and productive at the power forward position.
In her senior season, Krista Warren was second on the team in rebounding (7.2 per game) and third in scoring (11.9). She complemented then-freshman phenom and leading scorer Shawntinice Polk as a solid No. 2 option in the paint.
Warren's absence in the Wildcats' now-defunct 2003-2004 campaign was one of the reasons they weren't able to advance past Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats have one of the best inside-outside games in the country with Polk and junior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler, who both averaged more than 16 points per game this season. But the team was still missing something, said head coach Joan Bonvicini.
"We've got Polkey and she's pretty good, and Dee-Dee's a great player, and our wings are good. But we just need to be a little more consistent in the big games," Bonvicini said. "Particularly at the 4 spot we need consistency."
Bonvicini tinkered with the power forward spot all season, starting three players - sophomore CoCoa Sanford, junior Danielle Adefeso and freshman Rachael Schein - before settling on freshman Shannon Hobson for the final two months of the season.
Hobson was impressive at times but wasn't the reliable second option that Warren was.
The 6-foot-2 Perris, Calif., native averaged just over six points and four rebounds a contest in her 14 starts, and hit 53 percent of her shots.
But Hobson's inexperience showed at times, particularly in pressure situations. She was just 1-of-4 from the free-throw line in the Wildcats' season-ending loss to the Spartans Sunday, and was 61 percent from the line this season.
Most notably, the Wildcats didn't have a consistent second rebounder this season. No one besides Polk averaged more than five rebounds per game.
"We've got some young kids and we just need to be consistent there," Bonvicini said. "We still have some work to do, and it's little things, not big things."
Senior Grzyb leaves many marks on Arizona program
A second-straight first-round exit certainly wasn't the way senior guard Aimee Grzyb wanted to end her exceptional career at the UA - but she's leaving Arizona with her handprints all over the record books.
The 5-foot-7 Grzyb exits as the school's all-time leader in minutes and games played - 123 and 3,856, respectively. Only three Wildcats in history have started more games than she has.
The sharpshooter finishes second all-time in 3-pointers attempted (585) and made (208) for a career average of 35.6 percent beyond the arc. She finished eighth on the all-time list in scoring (1,227) and eighth in assists (348).
Grzyb enjoyed her career high with 24 points in the Wildcats' first Pac-10 Tournament game two weeks ago against Oregon State in her hometown of San Jose, Calif., and she holds the tournament record for 3-pointers made with 11. She was voted to this year's All-Pac-10 Tournament team after Arizona's 51-46 loss to Stanford in the championship game.
Polk, Wheeler already among school's best
Wheeler still has a year to go with the Wildcats, while Polk has two. But they're already among the UA's leaders in plenty of categories.
Wheeler is already the third-leading scorer in team history. She cracked the 1,400-point mark against Michigan State, carrying 1,402 points into her senior season. The 5-foot-6 Chicago native is 218 points behind former Wildcat Elizabeth Pickney, Wheeler's teammate as a freshman, for second place.
Wheeler is already seventh all-time in games started, fourth in 3-pointers made, fourth in steals and eighth in assists.
Polk already has 1,064 points as a Wildcat, good for 11th all-time. If she duplicates those numbers over her final two seasons, she will finish 105 points behind all-time leader Adia Barnes, who scored 2,237 for Arizona from 1995-1998.
The 6-foot-5 center is on pace to become just the second player in Wildcat history to eclipse the 2,000-point barrier. She is already the school's leader in blocks (160) and is fourth in rebounds (674).
"She's still a young player. I'm glad I'm her coach, and I'm glad she's going to be with us for a couple more years," Bonvicini said. "She's someone you want in the game so much, not just statistically, but for intimidation."