Walking into Arizona women's basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini's office at any point last week, some might see a woman defeated. Bonvicini said her team, which lost nine of its past 10 games, was one in search of confidence.

The team took another hit over the break when starting forward Linda Pace sustained a season-ending knee injury.

Look closer, however, and you'll see Bonvicini for what she really is: a woman of perseverance.

"We know a lot of these things are things that no one has experienced before," said the winningest coach in Arizona women's basketball history in contemplation of all her team has been through over the last few months, namely the death of the universally loved Shawntinice Polk. "There's not a book written on how to handle these things.

"Some people think that with the grief process, the players are crying or moping - it's not like that," Bonvicini said before her team's game with Oregon State last week. "It's like a big void, but this is the reality, and so you've got to focus on the things you can do, not the things you can't."

Over the break, Bonvicini's team started working with counselors again to help "just really focus on being positive and the things we do have."

The counselors, she said, have provided a tremendous help to a team struggling both on and off the court.

"It's like you're going down a road, and you have all these potholes in the road," she said. "And now they try to help you avoid the potholes and make it smoother. So it's been - they've been great, they've been wonderful."

As the losses began to add up in December, Bonvicini said she grew frustrated.

"And that didn't help the team," she said. "I think the thing for me, watching and coaching, I'm such a competitor, and at times, I think I was frustrated watching things I've never seen us do."

In an attempt to try and reverse the losing trend - and instill some enthusiasm in the process - Bonvicini turned to a buddy system designed to build relationships within the team.

"I thought about a lot of things of how to help the team and be more fun and be energetic and (the players) have really bought into this (buddy system)," she said. "Everybody has a buddy on the team and your responsibility is to take care of your buddy, to cheer when they're playing, cheer in practice for them. We did the same thing for the coaches, it's really good."

The system isn't simply a senior paired up with a freshman - a system of mentoring commonly used in collegiate sports. Instead, pairs were determined in a slightly different manner.

"Some are older and younger, but we wanted someone they really didn't hang out with as much," she said. "(It's a) team-building thing, but it's been really good."

Though the buddy system didn't have an immediate impact, losing was only temporary in Bonvicini's mind - "We know that we're going to get over the hump," she said with a confident stare prior to her team's victory over Oregon - as her team has been revitalized with the debut of freshman phenoms Amina Njonkou and Malia O'Neal.

"We had to lean on each other," Bonvicini said Saturday afternoon after her team snapped a five-game losing streak, their worst since the 1994-95 season, with a 81-72 win over Oregon. "This whole season - I know they told us it would be after three months of (the) grief process - I think we were on our down.

"And now," she continued, "hopefully we're on our up."

The mark of a great coach is not only spotting exactly what needs to be fixed, but having the ability to follow through and fix it. With Bonvicini, it's almost scary how right she was.

"When you play really hard, (confidence) is the biggest thing you want to get back," she said before the Oregon State game Thursday. "You want to get that victory to make you feel better."

Sure enough, each of the girls who met with the media post-game Saturday night mentioned the word confidence at one point or another.

"We're definitely going to need that vote of confidence in these next two games," said sophomore forward Ché Oh.

"That was a big confidence builder," added junior guard Joy Hollingsworth.

Senior guard Natalie Jones continued to echo the common trend.

"For us to ... actually come out and just win this, it gives us so much confidence," she said.

Always quick to build a player up - Bonvicini constantly adds "She's a good player," or "She's going to be great" to the end of answers to questions surrounding individual players - the coach also adds a positive spin to any situation.

Consider last week, when instead of griping about poor shooting and injuries as her team arrived home from a tough road trip to Los Angeles, she turned her focus to Hollingsworth.

"A player I think is playing really well right now is Joy Hollingsworth," she said. "She had her best weekend as a Wildcat."

And indeed, Hollingsworth arguably did just that, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds on the trip.

The coach also doesn't forget those that have stuck with her through the tough times she's endured this season.

"I just want to thank our staff for supporting us, and the fans were great today," she said Saturday afternoon. "Because it's been hard on them too, it's been hard on all of us."

Despite their 6-11 record, in her 13th season at the helm of the Wildcats, Bonvicini's team continues to exude her attitude of hard work.

Greeted in her office with, "Boy, winter break was sure a good rest," Bonvicini's response exemplified her work ethic:

"Not for us. We've been working hard."