Polk pours in 21, grabs 19 boards

The crowd was hot and so were the Wildcats in what was possibly the biggest win in Arizona women's basketball history.

The Wildcats knocked off No. 7 Stanford 88-83 last night in front of 4,111 McKale Center fans that refused to sit down in the final minutes.

The Cardinal matched the highest-ranked opponent Arizona has ever beaten. The Wildcats beat seventh-ranked Washington Jan. 10, 1998. [Read article]

Powe wins big-man battle, exposes faults

BERKELEY, Calif. - Although California managed to hit more than half of its 3-pointers during its 87-83 win over Arizona last night in Berkeley, Calif., the battle inside between two of the Pacific 10 Conference's marquee big men proved to be the real difference come crunch time.

Golden Bear freshman phenom Leon Powe finally fouled out UA junior center Channing Frye with just under five minutes to go in the second half and Cal clinging to a six-point lead. [Read article]

Cats play full 40 in 24th-straight home win

In a battle of runs, the Wildcats outlasted and outdueled the Stanford sharpshooters.

The key to victory for the Wildcats last night was simply ridding themselves of some bad habits they have had all season. Many times this season, the Wildcats would open the game ice cold, only to come out in the second half and roar to victory.

Head coach Joan Bonvicini has preached the need to play 40 minutes of good basketball all season, never believing the team had attained that goal thus far. [Read article]

Larry Ray and Nancy Evans' era in Arizona softball begins in earnest today, as the UA plays its first meaningful games without head coach Mike Candrea since the mid-'80s.

Interim co-head coach Ray and associate coach Evans will lead the Wildcats as they open their season with the Arizona Pepsi Softball Classic today. Arizona, which is ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the two season-opening polls, plays New Mexico at 3 p.m. and Mississippi at 5 p.m., followed by tomorrow's games against Cal State Northridge at 3 p.m. and UNLV at 5 p.m. [Read article]

The Arizona baseball team begins its 2004 season against UC Riverside today at 3 p.m. at Frank Sancet Field.

The No.16 Wildcats open head coach Andy Lopez's third season at the Arizona helm with high expectations after making the playoffs a year ago.

"(The season) has been a long time coming," said sophomore catcher Nick Hundley. "We're ready to go and really excited about the opportunity to start." [Read article]

Gymcats back at home tonight

The No. 15 Arizona gymnastics team returns home to the Pacific 10 Conference schedule against No. 27 California in McKale Center tonight at 7:30.

The Gymcats (5-1, 1-1 Pac-10) are coming off a split road series with a win last week at Illinois-Chicago (196.525-194.450).

"We needed to get back on track last week, and we had good success," said UA head coach Bill Ryden. "We added difficulty and we changed the lineup, so it was nice to see new athletes perform." [Read article]

The Arizona men's basketball team lost the first game of its Bay Area road trip last night in Berkeley, falling to unranked California, 87-83.

Freshman forward Leon Powe scored 21 points and grabbed 12 points for the Golden Bears, who had lost 10 straight meetings in the series. Cal's Amit Tamir added 21 points of his own, including shooting 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.

Arizona sophomore Andre Iguodala led all scorers with 25 points, and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. Junior center Channing Frye scored 17 points, but played just 24 minutes in the game before fouling out. [Read article]