Women rout USC in typical style

Matt Heistand Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior forward Adia Barnes (30) steals the ball from USC sophomore guard Kiyko Miller as junior guard Monica Crank (22) looks on. The Wildcats won at McKale Center last night with a score of 72-53.

There was Adia Barnes leading the team with 24 points and six steals.

There was the tremendous perimeter defense from Arizona's guards that caused 33 USC turnovers. Trojan point guard Kristin Clark committed 11 and, after scoring 12 first-half points, was held scoreless in the second half.

And there was Arizona going on runs to take big leads, and then letting the opposing team go on a spree of its own to make the contest close again.

The Wildcats opened the game with nine straight points before USC went on a 9-2 run to close the lead to two.

UA's advantage went back up to nine, and then USC was up by one before Arizona went on another run to take a 41-31 halftime lead.

"I don't think we played 40 minutes of good basketball," said Barnes, who passed Bob Elliot for second place on UA's all-time scoring chart with 2,150 career points.

"We didn't really get into the groove," she said. "I really want to commend their defense."

But it was Arizona's defense that finally came through, helping the Wildcats go on a 25-10 run over the game's final 13 minutes to put the Trojans away for good.

"I thought our defense was really, really good," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "I liked our intensity the entire game."

In fact, if there is one word to describe the style of play last night, it might be intensity.

Either that or sheer violence, considering that at various points in the game, five different Wildcats spent time on the floor in pain.

"It was more physical than it needed to be," Bonvicini said.

And it seemed the officials decided at halftime that they wanted the physical play to stop. After calling only 12 fouls in the first half, they called 20 in the second.

"First half, we clobbered each other," Barnes said. "Second half, they were calling ticky-tack fouls."

Arizona made due though, hitting 18 of its 21 free throw attempts while USC went 4 for 12.

The game, which gave the Wildcats their third 20-win season in a row and best Pacific 10 Conference record ever by an Arizona team, was a prelude to Saturday's Senior Day against UCLA.

"I can't believe its gone by this fast," Barnes said. "It's going to be an emotional game. We know we have to play better than this. We're going to be pumped."

No. 9 Arizona vs. No. 23 UCLA

(20-6, 13-4)(19-7, 14-3)

When: Tomorrow at 4 p.m. Where: McKale Center

TV/Radio: The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net and broadcast on KFFN (1490 AM)

Admission: Free with UA student ID; $3 seniors, youth and UA faculty and staff; $4 general admission.

What: Arizona is trying to clinch sole possession of second place in the Pacific 10 Conference in the team's final game before the NCAA Tournament. The highest any UA team has finished is third - UCLA made its first appearance in the AP Top-25 Poll of the year this week at number 23 - Barnes and UCLA forward Maylana Martin (19.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg) are two of the frontrunners for the Pac-10 player of the year award