The Arizona women's basketball team may have a couple of new players running the point this season, but junior Adia Barnes proved she is still the queen of the court.

Barnes, who played a half on both squads, led all scorers with 21 points and 17 rebounds, but was unable to claim the final victory as the Red beat the Blue 69-66 at McKale Center yesterday. Barnes played the first half for the Red and second half for the Blue.

"This is still a fun game and a good chance to see how far we have progressed," Barnes said. "We have a lot of young talent and the fans got to see them for the first time. Some of these players are going to be good."

The crowd got its first glimpse of redshirt freshman Lisa Griffith and true freshman point guard Felicity Willis. Both are in the running to become the starter this season after the graduation of Brenda Pantoja, the nation's leader in assists last season.

Both were impressive, especially Griffith, who scored 19 points and added six assists. She also hit 5-of-6 three-pointers, showing she can add a much-needed outside shot for the team. Willis scored 13 points, teaming with junior guard Monica Crank, who had 17.

"The coaches have pretty much given me the green light to shoot threes," Griffith said. "It is my responsibility to know when to shoot them. I think I did a good job of scoring today, but I need to distribute the ball a little better. I was a little late making passes and fatigue played a factor."

The Wildcats initially split the team up seven against seven, but when junior center Marte Alexander went down with about 4:30 remaining in the first half, the teams had to adjust. Alexander, who was helped off the court, did not return to the game and is expected to have X-rays taken today. UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said the severity of her injuries were not yet known.

Barnes led the Red team to a 37-23 halftime advantage before being switched to the Blue team. That is when the Blue team's Barnes, Griffith, DeAngela Minter and freshman Kate Crane led a charge to give the team its first lead of the game at 50-49 with 8:47 remaining. With under two minutes left, the Red team worked the ball around the top of the key and fed it to Crank, who buried a three-point basket to take a 67-66 lead. Two free throws by Willis secured the win.

"I saw a lot of good things tonight, and all of our freshmen did well," Bonvicini said. "There are still things we obviously need to work on, but this team is simply going to get better by the time the season begins."

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