UA's fast start enough to hold off Arizona State

By Craig Sanders
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 12, 1996

Tanith Balaban
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Arizona's Jacque Clark (right) shoots over Arizona State's Joanna Ziuraitis in the Wildcats' 82-73 win Saturday night.

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Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini lit a fire under the women's basketball team before Saturday's game against Arizona State.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, a late Sun Devil rally was unable to douse the flames, allowing Arizona to prove once again that it was not just blowing smoke in the Pacific 10 Conference.

The Wildcats' 82-73 victory over ASU in front of 2,817 people at McKale Center on Saturday night helped ease the wounds of a three-game losing streak and put Arizona back in good position in the conference. But most importantly for players and coaches, it was a victory over their rivals.

"We're happy we beat ASU and that we were able to sweep them again this season," Bonvicini said. "We're a very good basketball team and it finally looked like we were having fun again. No matter what record this team has, that is one we're proud to have."

Arizona (14-5 overall, 5-5 in the Pac-10) opened the game with a 16-0 run and looked as if it was going to blast the Sun Devils (5-14, 1-9) out of the building. The Wildcats inserted a new form of their pressure defense, causing numerous turnovers and allowing them to return to the fast-break style offense that they had used early in the season.

Arizona's defense was stifling and helped extend the lead to 36-8 with only 5:19 left in the first half. The Wildcats finished the half with a 45-21 lead.

The Sun Devils came out in the second half with the same flair the Wildcats had shown in the first. They used a combination of hot shooting and their own pressure defense to cut into the Arizona lead. The Wildcats were outscored 52-37 in the second half, but held on for the nine-point victory.

"We just picked it up tonight," senior point guard Brenda Pantoja said. "We have to realize that we're not going to come out with a complete 40-minute game because we are a team of spurts. Whoever comes out and makes the most of their spurts is going to win the game."

Arizona was lead by the hot shooting of Pantoja, who hit five-of-seven three-pointers and finished the game with 21 points and eight assists. Senior forward Andrea Constand chipped in 13 points and reserve center Marte Alexander powered her way to 11 points and nine rebounds. The team's leading scorer, Adia Barnes, finished with only six points in 20 minutes of play, fouling out midway through the second half. The Wildcats got at least four points from four other players.

"We had to get back to having a team game," Alexander said. "We have to concentrate on everyone getting a touch, everyone getting a look. It's that team concept we had early in the season that we needed to get back to."

The Sun Devils were paced by junior forward Molly Tuter, who had 12 of ASU's 21 first-half points. Tuter ended with 20 points and was joined in the second half by senior guard Emma Witkowski's 17 points and junior guard LaToya Johnson's 15 points. Arizona State shot 61 percent in the second half compared to only 25 percent in the first.

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