The Arizona women's basketball team waited at their annual banquet at McKale Center on March 10, sitting calmly before ESPN cameras as the 64-team field was selected for the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats were one of the teams on the "bubble" to receive a Tournament bid. Region by region flashed across the screen, and other Pacific 10 Conference schools like Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford were selected. Yet as the Wildcats watched and waited, hoping for their first ever bid, their name never appeared.

"We were just all so disappointed," sophomore forward Adia Barnes said. "When I saw two other Pac-10 schools I said, 'Wow, we're coming up next.' Then we just waited and never got in. It was just a horrible feeling."

The Wildcats finished with their best ever record, 19-8 overall and a 10-8 in the Pac-10. In the final game of the season, the Wildcats defeated California 85-82 in a come-from-behind victory in Berkeley. It was a win that many thought would propel Arizona into the Tournament. Instead, it propelled the Wildcats into the National Women's Invitation Tournament. Arizona plays Western Kentucky on Thursday.

"The win against Cal should have put us in," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "It was the kind of game that showed the resilience of this team."

Nancy Lieberman-Klein, commentator for ESPN, said that Arizona shouldn't have expected to get in considering its inferior noncon-ference schedule.

"They can say all they want about our non-conference schedule, but the fact is, we not only beat everyone we faced, but we beat them handily," Bonvicini said.

Arizona was 9-0 in non-conference play, defeating opponents by an average of 36 points per game. Yet the Wildcats, who finished third in the conference, were passed up for fourth place Oregon (17-11, 9-9), a team they defeated 56-51 on Feb. 22. It was a fact the Wildcats did not overlook.

"Basically, they half-assed it all the way in," senior Andrea Constand said of Oregon. "They were not a consistent team, and I don't think they deserved to be there. I think that we have demanded respect all year long, and unfortunately, we haven't gotten any respect."

"We've never gotten respect here, and tonight just capped it off," Pantoja said. "This school and Joan have never received any respect, and it's unfortunate because she did a great job this year in getting our team to where it is now."