CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior center Danielle Adefeso shoots over a Latvian defender last night during the Wildcats' exhibition game against Latvian Select. Arizona won, 87-52, in its first action of the season.

Gryzb, freshman trio lead Arizona in rout

The 2003-04 UA women's basketball team shook off a few early mistakes yesterday and showed why it deserved the preseason ranking it was given.

The No. 22 Wildcats used a 31-7 run in the first half to blow out the Latvian Select Team, 87-52, in Arizona's first exhibition game of the season last night in McKale Center in front of 1,160 fans.

"We obviously need to work on some things, but overall it was a good effort," said senior guard Aimee Grzyb.

"We had some good moments, and then some moments when you're just scratching your head," head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We will get better because of this."

The Latvian Select team played even with the Wildcats for a short time. They capitalized on some poor shooting and turnovers by the Wildcats to keep the game close and pulled within one point, 18-17, at the 11-minute mark.

That was as close as the team from Riga, Latvia would get.

Arizona proceeded to go on a 31-7 run to close out the half and led 49-24 at the break. The Wildcats shot 44 percent from the field in the first half.

Arizona used a balanced scoring attack, led by Grzyb and 2003 Pacific 10 Conference Freshman of the Year, Shawntinice Polk, who both had 14 points.

Grzyb had a solid night from the field, going 5-of-9, including 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"If that's what my team needs me to do, I'm going to do it," Grzyb said. "It was open, so I took the shots and (I was) lucky they went in."

Arizona also played a good game on the defensive end, forcing the Latvian Select Team into 26 turnovers.

"When we play hard on defense, our offense will come, and we played really well on defense today," said sophomore guard Natalie Jones, who ended the game with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Jones was one of three Wildcats who were one stat away from earning a double-double. Freshman forward Shannon Hobson was one point shy, while Polk was a rebound away.

In a bit of a surprise, Bonvicini started all three Wildcat freshmen, who looked solid in their first collegiate action.

Hobson and guards Linda Pace and Rachael Schein all got the starting nod for their rebounding in practice this week.

"It was a really good experience for (the freshmen) to get out there (and start)," Jones said. "They really surprised me a lot."

Hobson led the Wildcats with 12 rebounds and added nine points, while Pace led the team in steals with three.

"Our freshmen are not scared; they're confident," Grzyb said. "They have a lot of new experiences (to go through), but they are coming along."

Although Bonvicini said the Latvian team was not a very good measurement of the Wildcats' talent, she expects the competition to get tougher in the team's next and final exhibition game against Athletes in Action, to be played Thursday, Nov. 13 in McKale Center.