If there was ever a clearer opportunity to see a basketball team turn the corner, Arizona women's basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini would be hard pressed to see it.

When the Wildcats face the San Francisco Dons in the season opener for both teams tomorrow night at the Memorial Stadium in San Francisco, Bonvicini said it will be her team's chance to take another step forward.

"This kind of game, this kind of tournament is something that will test our team," Bonvicini said. "It will tell us a lot about ourselves and about where we stand. We wanted to move forward and good opponents will help us do that."

The Dons are the Wildcats' first test in the Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament. The 16-team field includes, among others, last season's national champion, Tennessee, No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Old Dominion, No. 12 Kansas, No. 13 N.C. State, No. 14 Louisiana Tech and No. 20 Notre Dame. San Francisco is currently ranked an unofficial 27th by The Associated Press.

"I'm looking forward to starting the season, to correcting a lot of wrongs," UA forward Adia Barnes said.

The Wildcats have come into the season feeling they still have a lot to prove after being denied a berth in the NCAA Tournament at the end of last season. Arizona instead competed in the postseason WNIT, taking the title with a 79-63 win over Northwestern in the championship game. That earned the team a right to play in the preseason tournament and the right to play against some of the nation's elite teams.

"Certainly we know we have a great challenge ahead of us," Bonvicini said, "but I want those kind of challenges. Last season our schedule was created to give the team confidence in themselves. Our players know they can win now and so we have to prove it."

One of the things that hurt the Wildcats' chances at getting into the NCAA Tournament last season was their "soft" schedule. If Arizona is able to move on in this tournament, it may have an impact on the entire season.

"Sure, we know this is big. People are going to look at the tournament results all year," UA freshman guard Lisa Griffith said. "We really can't think about that, though. If we play up to our team's capabilities we will be okay."

Arizona did take a blow to its confidence on Tuesday, when Ruzomberok, a Slovakian club team, handed it an 80-61 loss at McKale Center. The Wildcats looked sloppy in the game, committing numerous turnovers and looking generally out of sync. Bonvicini, however, guaranteed that her team would look better against the Dons.

"We will play better, there's no doubt about it," Bonvicini said.

The Wildcats are starting their season nearly two weeks earlier than they did last season, when they opened at home against Wyoming. With a group of young players still learning the system and a freshman point guard running the show, it may take a little longer for them to come together. Still, most of the players believe their team is ready for San Francisco.

"Of course they are a good team, but we will be able to play with them if our team is focused and able to play as one unit," center Jacque Barrington said. "We're practicing well and that will carry over to the game."

San Francisco is returning six of its top seven players from last season's NCAA Sweet 16 team. The team was led by honorable mention preseason All-American Brittany Lindhe, who averaged 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Senior Andrea Kagie averaged 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and senior Renee Demirdjian chipped in 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds.

If Arizona wins it will face the winner of the Louisiana Tech/Tulane match-up on Sunday. The Wildcats would need to win four games to take the championship.

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