By Seth Doria
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 15, 1997

Last season's success is not going to cut it

Chris Zuckerman Arizona Daily Wildcat Members of the UA women's basketball team pose for photos yesterday, as part of the team's media day. The event kicked off this season, which coach Joan Bonvicini predicts will be the team's best ever.

The Arizona women's basketball team is looking forward to it's best season ever, said its coach, Joan Bonvicini.

These are big words for a Wildcat team that narrowly lost in the second round to No. 2 seed Georgia, 80-74, in March's NCAA Tournament.

Speaking as a part of the team's media day yesterday in the Stadium Club at Arizona Stadium, Bonvicini said the team has the attitude, experience and talent to improve upon last season's charge into the second round as No. 7 seed.

"I feel real good about our team. We are exciting and we are going to win," said Bonvicini about her team, which is expected to start the season ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in school history.

The Wildcats were ranked No. 15 in Street & Smith's preseason poll and No. 17 by The Sporting News.

The Wildcats return all five starters, as well as six other letter winners, from a team that finished 23-8 last year. Redshirt freshman guard Reshea Bristol is also available as well as a duo of Texas high school stars, Lekeisha Taylor and Monique Paige.

Expected to start for the Wildcats are guards Monika Crank, Lisa Griffith and DeAngela Minter. Seniors Adia Barnes and Marte Alexander fill the frontcourt.

Bonvicini said that forward Mikko Giordano and guard Felicity Willis will challenge for starting roles.

The Wildcats have six seniors on the squad to provide valuable experience. However, they will be missing reserve forward Fatima Imara, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for the season.

With Taylor, Paige and Bristol, the Wildcats should fill the holes Bonvicini said cost the team some crucial games last year.

Bonvicini listed three areas that the team needed to improve: decreasing turnovers, better rebounding and more consistent offensive production from the post players.

Taylor and Paige have been nicknamed the "Texas Towers" and for good reason. Taylor is now the tallest member on the team at 6-foot-5, and Paige is listed at 6-3.

While Taylor is currently recuperating from a broken wrist suffered in a bike accident, she is scheduled to return in mid-November. Taylor is expected to provide a mixture of strong rebounding and a variety of offensive moves from the post.

Paige is a physical player who can bang opponents off the block and rebound.

Bristol is a versatile guard with good all-around skills.

"She gives us good size at the guard," said Bonvicini of Bristol. "She can shoot, rebound and pass. She will definitely see playing time."

Griffith, a sophomore, said Minter and Barnes help the rest of the team get involved on defense, an aspect of the game that Bonvicini has always emphasized.

"DeAngela is a phenomenal defender," Griffith said. "We try to copy that."

The Wildcats general feeling of optimism about the season is obvious.

"We know what we want and anything less will be a disappointment. We are a competitive, aggressive team," Griffith said. "We know we can get past the second round."

As for starting the season in the Top 25, Bonvicini said she welcomes the pressure.

"I really like being ranked," she said. "I like the pressure on me and on the team. It's great for the program."

She added that being ranked as one of the best teams in the country is "a pat on the back for our team. Now we have to go out and prove it."

The Wildcats get their chance, as they have an extremely tough nonconference schedule, including games against UC-Santa Barbara, Kansas, Nebraska, Louisiana Tech and Purdue.

"If you want to get far in the NCAA tournament, you need to play a tough schedule," Bonvicini said. "We are a very tenacious, gritty never-say-die team."