Arizona women crush Washington

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman guard Julie Brase (20) puts up a shot against Washington yesterday at McKale Center. Brase had 15 points in Arizona's 84-58 victory over the Huskies.

Arizona outrebounded the Pacific 10 Conference leader with a rebounding margin of 39-32 and 12 forced steals. The Wildcats had 14 turnovers, one of their lowest totals in recent memory, compared to Washington's 30.

"What we did much better tonight was play very intense for 40 minutes," head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We rebounded a lot better tonight."

Freshman guard Julie Brase and junior guard Lisa Griffith led Arizona with 15 points each, followed by freshman center Elizabeth Pickney and junior guard Felecity Willis with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Pickney and Griffith had six rebounds each.

"The difference between our rebounding tonight and the other games was that everybody went to the boards," Pickney said. "We've been focusing on blocking out in practice, and we really put it to work tonight.

"What helped me was everything I did tonight, I just took my time. I wasn't rushing," she said.

Washington's Jamie Redd led all scorers with 18 points.

"Coach B's really been stressing defense and rebounding, and tonight we did a good job with those," Brase said. "We made them turnover the ball a lot with the way we were pressing. They got the ball and just traveled, and that helped us out a lot."

Brase sparked Arizona by shooting 4-for-5 in the first half, finishing 5-for-8.

"Coach B tells me to shoot more, and when I don't, she gets mad at me," Brase said.

Arizona has been very successful in its frequent trips to the free-throw line. Last night they shot 26-for-29, compared to Washington's 4-for-9.

"We're a pretty good free throw shooting team," Bonvicini said. "If we get to the line in the high-20's each game, we have a very good chance of winning."

Arizona faces Washington State, who beat them 87-77 earlier in the season, tomorrow at 7 p.m. at McKale Center.

"That was a God-awful game up there," Bonvicini said. "I haven't forgotten that game and we're ready to play them right now."

The Washington road trip last month was the team's first conference road trip, a real learning experience for a young team. Since then, the team has been getting better and better.

"When we came back from that Washington road trip, we had some hard practices," Bonvicini said. "Now, we're a better team that's gaining confidence and experience."