NAME: Shawntinice "Polkey" Polk
Year: sophomore
From: Hanford, Calif.
2003-04 Stats: 16.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.6 bpg
Last week, Shawntinice Polk scored 21 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in an 88-83 win over then-No. 7 Stanford. She followed it up with 15 points, 14 boards, eight assists and eight blocks in a victory over California, 77-59.
The 6-foot-5 sophomore center was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the second time this season and the sixth time in her UA career. This is Polkey's second athlete of the week honor.
Wildcat: Did you know you're on pace to be the first Wildcat to score 1,000 points in her first two seasons?
Polk: Really?
Wildcat: Yep. Is that cool or is it another one of those things where you say you're just happy to be winning?
Polk: (Laughs) I don't know. If I keep getting the ball ...
Wildcat: ... And the officials let you play.
Polk: Yeah. If they keep me in the game. If they keep me in the game, good things could happen, I guess. (Laughs)
Wildcat: Is the NCAA Tournament the most brutal playoff system in sports?
Polk: I don't think so. It just means you have to come to play or not even play at all. I think it's a good deal where your team has to step up, show the heart of the team, you know? We got knocked out the first round last year. This year, if we make it to the playoffs, we know what it feels like to be knocked out - you're one and gone.
Wildcat: Was it a frustrating off-season for you after you lost in the first round last year? You guys accomplished so much and then, in an hour and a half, it's over with.
Polk: Definitely. For myself, I felt like I couldn't do anything to help my team. I was a big part of the team last year, and it was just hard because we had that time off when we could've been playing instead of watching some of the games that were played and just being like, "Man, we could've been there." But, in a way, it helps because it lights the fire for this season.
Wildcat: The closest to home you guys could play in the tournament this year is Tempe. Would that be weird, to have home court advantage at ASU?
Polk: That would be very weird, but it would be good because a lot of our fans could come down and watch. Instead of bringing a little bit of McKale, we could bring a lot of McKale.
Wildcat: You've fouled out at home just once this year, the season opener against NAU, but you've fouled out five times on the road. Do you play any differently on the road or do the refs have a home-court bias?
Polk: (Laughs) I play the same everywhere I go. I don't know, when you play on the road, I guess the home teams have home court advantage. It matters to me, but I know I'm not going to get the calls. I don't like it when they call stupid fouls on me, but it happens.
Wildcat: You've just kind of accepted it?
Polk: Yeah, it's one of those things you just have to let go.
Wildcat: Regardless of what officials call, how many times per game do you think you get fouled?
Polk: I get fouled? Oh my gosh. Let's see ... about every other time I touch the ball.
Wildcat: So about 20 times a game?
Polk: Twenty-plus, yeah. (Laughs)
Wildcat: Some schools like Tennessee and Louisiana Tech, they're more known for women's basketball than men's basketball. Obviously this isn't the case at Arizona, but with the men struggling as they have been and you guys getting to the top of the Pac-10, do you feel like now's the time you can really get noticed?
Polk: Definitely. A lot of people are saying, "You guys are doing a lot better than the boys," and what I tell people is we're not as good as the boys, but we're getting there, and we've been this good. Last year we had a good season, but because (the men are) winning, they don't want to come out and support us or they don't want to watch us. But, you know, that's their loss. That's how I feel about it.
Wildcat: If you could face ASU or Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament championship, which would it be?
Polk: Stanford. I mean, everyone makes a big deal with ASU and Arizona. Yeah, it's a rivalry game, but I pride myself on playing really well against Stanford. For me that's like a rival game because Stanford, they're always ranked. They always have a good team and they're always up there, so just to play a team like that. ASU has a good team but I'd rather play in the championship game against Stanford.
Wildcat: Is that partly because you guys lost to Stanford in the championship game last year?
Polk: No, even last year as a freshman, just reading about the Pac-10 before I got here, it's like, you want to beat that ranked team, you know? That's just how it was.