UA/USA softball coach's wife dies

The USA Olympic softball team wrapped up the Aiming for Athens tour undefeated this weekend, but still suffered a big loss.

Sue Candrea, 48, wife of UA and USA head coach Mike Candrea, died suddenly early Sunday morning due to "extreme complications" from a brain aneurysm.

"She was just a fun person to be around, a real quick wit about her. She always tried to find humor in things and she was the backbone to Mike and her family obviously, the one that was around and took care of things and I know Mike appreciated that tremendously," said UA acting head coach Larry Ray.

Candrea is survived by children Mikel, 24, and Michelle, 21. Mikel was an assistant for the softball team this year.

The Candreas and team USA were in Stevens Point, WI, on the last leg of the tour when Sue Candrea became ill at the airport and was hospitalized. She underwent surgery on Friday but did not recover.

"I don't know if you can ever prepare for that," Ray said.

Visitation will take place on Thursday from 5-7 p.m. and there will be a Rosary Service from 7-8 p.m. at the St. Anthony Catholic Cathedral, 201 N. Picacho St., in Casa Grande. Flowers can be sent to the Cole & Maud Mortuary, 215 S. Washington St., Casa Grande, Arizona 85222, 520-836-8041. The family burial will be private.

A Sue Candrea Memorial Endowment Fund has also been established. Donations can be sent to the University of Arizona Athletic Department at the McKale Memorial Center, 1 National Championship Drive.

Condolences for the Candrea family can be mailed c/o USA Softball National Team Department, 2801 N.E. 50th St., Oklahoma City, OK, 73111 or to info@softball.org.

Team USA is on a 10-day break before traveling to Europe. The Americans went 53-0 on the tour, outscoring college and all-star teams 476-14 and extending their pre Olympic tour win streak to 166.

CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Summer Wildcat Freshman guard Mustafa Shakur drives up the court last year against NAU in late November. Shakur and teammate Hassan Adams survived the USA Basketball Young National Team's first cut.

Shakur, Adams may play on junior team

Arizona sophomore to be Mustafa Shakur and junior Hassan Adams survived the USA basketball young national team's first cut.

Shakur and Adams are two of the 16 finalists for the 12 roster spots to be decided at the end of the USA's training camp at the New Jersey Nets' practice facility this week. The team will compete in the 2004 FIBA World Championship for Young Men qualifying tournament July 28 to Aug. 1.

Last summer, Shakur played on USA's junior world championship team, where they finished fifth despite a 7-1 record.

Women's basketball to face Saint Mary's

Saint Mary's will be the team to try and snap the Arizona women's basketball team's 27-game home win streak in the opener of the preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament.

Last week, the WNIT announced that the Gaels will travel to McKale Center for the Nov. 12 game. The winner will face the winner of the Rice-McNeese State game at a site to be determined.

The WNIT is played entirely on campus sites and last year the home team won every game. The tournament features nine of 16 teams, including Arizona, that played in the NCAA tournament in 2004. A team can only play in the tournament once every four years and it is restricted to one team per conference.

The Wildcats return four starters from the Pac-10 co-champion team and Saint Mary's went 15-14 last season.

Aussies knock USA Elite out of tournament

Australia nabbed its third victory over the USA Schutt Elite softball team in nine days, knocking the U.S. out of the Champions Cup in the semifinals.

The USA Elite (13-5) ended its summer in the semifinals with a 2-1 loss. UA junior pitcher Alicia Hollowell (4-3) was the hard-luck loser after giving up a two-run home run.

Hollowell, who recorded three strikeouts in a row after the homer, gave up six hits and three walks and struck out 10. The Americans went 7-3 in the Champions Cup.

"I was so proud of the way we came out and competed under adverse circumstances today," said Head Coach Jay Miller to usasoftball.com. "I can't say enough about the effort by Alicia and everyone on our team. It is a sad day for USA Softball, but our performance made me proud of the players and people we have in our program."

Hollowell ended the summer with a 0.96 ERA and 62 strikeouts over a team-high 51 innings. UA sophomores Caitlin Lowe and Kristie Fox, who started in all the games, had .404 and .443 on-base percentages, respectively.

USA Baseball national team splits with Chinese

The USA Baseball national team wrapped up its preparations for the World University Championships with a split with Chinese Taipei.

USA dropped the opener and last game of the four-game series, 6-5 and then 4-1, winning the second one 9-5 and the third 11-1. Despite limited action in the series, UA junior Trevor Crowe remained one the USA's top hitters with an average of .339, third on the team.

In the first game Crowe went one-for-five, scoring a run. He only pinch ran in the second game, but went 2-for-4 in the third game and 0-for-1 in the fourth, reaching on an error as a pinch hitter in the last one.

The Americans head over to the World University Championships later this week in Taiwan.

Blasberg wins first professional tournament

Former Wildcat Erica Blasberg won her first professional golf tournament on Sunday, taking a big step towards the LPGA tour.

Blasberg shot a three-round 201 (69, 62, 70) to win the Laconia Savings Bank Futures Golf Classic by two strokes. The tournament was Blasberg's second event on the LPGA's Futures Tour.

The win earns Blasberg $9,100 and vaults her to 27th on the money list at $10,104. After her first week she was 126th. To qualify for the LPGA, Futures Tour members must finish in the top five on the money list; fifth is currently Seon-Hwa Lee with $23, 079 in 12 events, with six events left.

In other Arizona women's golf news, UA assistant coach Jody Dansie was hired by Nevada to be the women's head coach.