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By Craig Sanders
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 18, 1996
When the Arizona women's basketball team headed to Cajun country this weekend, it went into one of college basketball's hotbeds.Even though the Wildcats were able to cool of Louisiana Tech's fiery backcourt for a half, in the end Arizona's young players just got burned, losing 73-60 in the second round of the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.
"I felt we really were in control of our own destiny for about the first 33 minutes," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "Then we hit a stretch where we showed our youth in the backcourt."
The Wildcats had begun well in their second game tournament, trailing by only two points, 30-28, at the half in Louisiana Tech's Thomas Assembly Center. Then 11th-ranked Louisiana Tech (2-0) began a 13-0 run with nine minutes left in the game. Tech began pressuring the Wildcat backcourt, causing turnovers and converting them into quick points. Louisiana Tech took a 15-point lead and never let the Wildcats (1-1) get closer than 11 thereafter.
"We try really hard to have our defense create our offense, and we did OK at times," Bonvicini said. "Last year, we were a pretty good defensive team. We're working to get especially our new kids accustomed to playing good quality defense."
Tech was led by Tamicha Jackson and Amanda Wilson, who scored 18 points apiece to give coach Leon Barmore his 399th career victory. Arizona was led by Adia Barnes, who had 22 points and eight rebounds. The Wildcats were coming off of a 85-79 win at San Francisco on Friday night.
"Arizona deserves credit, too," Barmore said. "They played San Francisco Friday night, they fly all day yesterday and they're up here at 8 this morning shooting. I really compliment them. You better believe that that team should have been in the NCAA Tournament last year."
Louisiana Tech has now won 19 straight games in the Thomas Assembly Center.
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