Barnes' hot streak leads to gets Pac-10 honor

Already this season, the senior forward became the schools all-time leading scorer for women's basketball and has been named a preseason honorable mention All-American.

She has been named the Pacific 10 Conference's player of the week and leads the conference in scoring and is fifth in rebounding. She leads the Wildcats in both categories.

Monday, Barnes was named Pac-10 player of the week for the second time in three weeks after averaging 27.5 points, six rebounds and two steals in leading UA to a pair of wins over Stanford at McKale Center and Arizona State in Tempe.

It was the sixth time in her career that Barnes had been named the conference player of the week.

Against ASU, she recovered from a root canal the previous day and came off the bench to score 33 points, grab five rebounds and get three steals. She did not commit a turnover in 30 minutes, while the rest of the team committed a season high 36 turnovers.

In the now infamous "biggest win in team history" over Stanford, it was Barnes who found freshman guard Reshea Bristol, who hit the winning shot, streaking around the perimeter.

But aside from the statistics, UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said Barnes has developed into a team leader as she matured through the program.

"She's the kind of player who does what it takes for her team to win," Bonvicini said. "She always seems to have her best game when we need her."

Barnes' ability to stretch defenses through a mixture of post moves and her ability to hit the 15-foot jumper also creates opportunities for other teammates when opponents try to double team her.

Oregon State coach Judy Spoelstra, whose team hosts the Wildcats this Saturday, said Barnes, along with senior center Marte Alexander, provided a one-two punch most teams couldn't control.

"If you focus too much on her (Barnes), Marte will definitely hurt you on the back side with rebounds and tip ins," she said. "It's going to have to be a maximum team effort to stop them."