Women's hoops takes on SD State

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior guard Felecity Willis (23) tries to pull down a rebound during Thursday's loss to top-ranked Purdue. The Wildcats face off against San Diego State tonight at 7 at McKale Center.

The 1-2 Wildcats host the San Diego State Aztecs at 7 p.m. at McKale Center.

San Diego State dropped its first two games this season, losing to San Francisco at home and Oregon State on the road.

The Aztecs are led by senior guard Charley Murray, who averaged 12.5 points in the two games. Freshman forward Atim Otii is second on the team with 8.5 points, and leads the team in rebounding with 6.5 per game.

San Diego State leads the all-time series 12-3, but Arizona has won the last three meetings.

"San Diego State has a good program, but we will have the home-court advantage," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We will get better as a team and be ready for Monday's game."

Arizona is coming off a 65-58 loss to No. 1 Purdue Thursday night, a game which showed the potential the young Wildcats have this year.

"That was definitely a confidence-builder," junior guard Lisa Griffith said. "Defensively, we're stepping up our pressure."

The Wildcats are working to improve their weak-side rebounding, something they could not conquer against Purdue.

"We could be rebounding better, but we're not going up and grabbing them," freshman forward Elizabeth Pickney said. "But we've picked up our game because we're playing Arizona basketball."

Junior guard Angela Lackey leads the team in scoring and is tied for the lead in rebounding. Lackey is averaging 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Junior forward Tatum Brown is also averaging 6.7 rebounds.

"We need to get on the boards as much as possible," Brown said. "(The Purdue game) was the hump. We're ready to play anyone."

Pickney averages 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds, and junior guard Felecity Willis is second on the team with 12.0 points per game.

While many things still have to be improved, the team has come a long way in a couple of weeks. Youth and inexperience have been the major problems, but with a difficult schedule, the Wildcats are going to learn the ropes of Division I basketball quickly.

"We lost the Purdue game with a lot of dumb mistakes, and the inexperience of our youth really showed," Bonvicini said. "But that game will only make us better."

Bryan Rosenbaum can be reached via e-mail at Bryan.Rosenbaum@wildcat.arizona.edu.