It wasn't the all-Wildcat final people may have predicted.

Instead of the University of Arizona men's basketball team meeting Kentucky in the finals of the NCAA Tournament, it was the UA women downing Northwestern 79-63 to win the National Women's Invitational Tournament in Amarillo, Texas, on Saturday.

Besides taking out a little frustration on having been denied a berth in the NCAA Tournament, UA's title, its first ever in the postseason in its first-ever appearance in the postseason, serves notice that the program has arrived under head coach Joan Bonvicini's watchful eye.

For the men, the season was a journey from unranked and unknown to one 3-pointer away from the Elite Eight. Despite all sorts of controversy, from the cancelled trip to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia to Joseph Blair's academic problems, the team still found ways to win.

But as it is with every sport in every season, the players are what stand out in the end.

There is Brenda Pantoja, the speedy UA point guard who led the nation in assists and led the team to the postseason in her final year. Her love for the game was no better illustrated than when, with the clock ticking down against Northwestern and the issue already decided, she purposely missed her second foul shot so Bonvicini couldn't remove her from the game.

And how about Reggie Geary? You think the senior point guard didn't want to win? With four fouls, he threw himself to block a Kansas shot late in the game, despite the chance of fouling out. He swatted the ball cleanly, and erupted with a rumbling war cry as he clenched his fists and ran up the court.

The greatest injustice of all might be that in his last game, Reggie Geary did not get what he wanted.

What we got this season was two teams that cast aside expectations and delivered some terrific memories. Each has left a legacy - the women for a new tradition of postseason excellence and the men for stepping up in the face of adversity - that will endure for years to come.

Staff Comment