Barnes' 33 lead Wildcats to 'ugly' win in Tempe

Adam F. Jarrold Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior forward Adia Barnes battles Arizona State's Rachel Holt for position under the basket Saturday at the University Activity Center in Tempe. Barnes scored 33 points in the game, closing to within 108 points of the 2,000 career point plateau.

"The best thing I can say about this game is that it's over," said Bonvicini, the head coach of the seventh-ranked women's basketball team. "It was ugly."

Arizona (11-3 overall, 5-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) committed 36 turnovers, a season high among conference teams this season, and never found a rhythm in its halfcourt offense.

In fact, of Arizona's 28 field goals, only five were not layups, resulting in a .538 team shooting percentage.

UA could not get into its set offense because of the pressure put on by the Sun Devil's guards, Bonvicini said.

"ASU (6-8, 2-3) is a much better team then their record indicates," she said. "They forced us into countless turnovers."

Senior forward Adia Barnes agreed, saying ASU's aggressive defense shocked the Wildcats.

"We were surprised at the beginning," she said. "I'm very impressed with their defense. They were just really tenacious."

ASU started the game strong, racing to a 10-2 lead in the opening four minutes.

But the Wildcats then turned on their own pressure defense and turned a 19-14 deficit into a 31-23 lead. ASU never recovered.

Despite starting the game on the bench for missing practice the previous day, Barnes tore up the Sun Devils, scoring 33 points and grabbing five rebounds.

Barnes missed practice because of discomfort in her teeth she attributed to having her braces tightened.

As it turned out, the All-America candidate had an abscessed tooth that had to be drained before it got infected.

Bonvicini said she didn't know if Barnes was going to play, but wasn't too surprised when she said she could go.

"She's a tough kid," Bonvicini said.

Barnes said sitting on the bench in the beginning gave her some perspective she used to help settle her teammates after ASU's hot start.

"They really jumped on us," she said. "We just had to take a step back."

Bonvicini said having Barnes come off the bench made the difference in the Wildcats' comeback.

"She really is All-America to me," she said. "She's great in the pressure defense and does a great job of leadership on the floor."

Before the game, Bonvicini said she wanted to see more aggressiveness out of senior Marte Alexander, Arizona's other main post threat. Though Alexander improved on her totals from the Stanford game a week ago, Bonvicini was not completely satisfied.

"She got some good rebounds but she needs to be more of an offensive threat," Bonvicini said.

Alexander took only one shot in the first half, despite playing 18 minutes. She finished with eight points, nine rebounds and tied a season high with four blocked shots.

The experience of winning on the road, despite not playing anywhere close to its best game, could help prevent Arizona from losing its cool, and the game, after another a slow start.

"We knew we should have come in here and blown them out," sophomore guard Felecity Willis said, "but yeah, it gives us a little confidence."

Though they were on the road, at times it seemed as though UA had more fans than ASU in the University Activity Center.

When the crowd of 3,153 started competing with each other, the chant "U of A" dominated the sound waves.

"We had a great number of fans," Bonvicini said.

"All that helps," Barnes added. "It was great support."