UA's Crank may be out of commission

Arizona Daily Wildcat UA guard Monika Crank is questionable for tomorrow's game.

Sophomore Monika Crank had her nose broken during Saturday's Arizona State game and likely will not play, team physician Dr. Donald E. Porter said yesterday.

Junior guard DeAngela Minter played sparingly against ASU with a sore ankle and has not been able to practice full-time this week.

Crank has been cleared to play by Porter as long as she wears a protective facial mask. Crank will have neurologist look at it today, before the team leaves for Los Angeles.

"I feel good," Crank said. "They don't want to take any risks that I might re-injure it. If I feel comfortable with the mask then I can play."

UA head coach Joan Bonvicini is leaving the decision up Crank.

"Monika will let us know if she can make it. There is no pressure that she has to play," Bonvicini said.

Arizona plays UCLA tomorrow and USC, who is two places above the Wildcats in the Pacific 10 Conference, Sunday.

Crank - who leads the team in minutes (30 per game) - was named the conference player of the week last Monday when she averaged 14 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and shot 8 of 12 from three point-range against the Washington schools.

"I haven't even had a chance to try the mask yet," Crank said.

Physically, her face is not swollen and the bridge of her nose looks normal.

"It's (nose) just a smidge out of line, but not something that will be permanent," Porter said. "It's not like she is going to have a boxer's nose."

As long as Crank doesn't suffer any contact, Porter said she should be allowed to play next week without the mask.

"The potential risk is that there are some delicate bones in the nose area we want to protect," Porter said. "If we thought it was too bad, we wouldn't let her play."

Crank said the incident occurred following up on of her own misses. She caught an errant elbow in face when she grabbed the rebound. She remained in the game, but had a severe headache.

Crank has had problems with headaches before. In last season's Stanford game, Crank had to be removed from the game with a head injury after she took a charge from Cardinal forward Kate Starbird.

"We are concerned with the headaches because of her past," Bonvicini said. "We are not pushing her to make any decision right now."

Bonvicini is confident that Minter will play, but acknowledges that she could be without two of her impact players.

"We are going to have to find a way. This team has a lot of good players, we're just going to let them play."

Freshman Felecity Willis got her first career start versus ASU for Minter. Junior Mikko Giordano who has played every position but center and point guard this season will see more time as well.

In the first meeting between UA and UCLA, the Wildcats full-court pressed most of the game to a 69-45 win. That was with a full roster.