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Women's hoops team crushes Czechs

The UA women's basketball team opened its pre-season exhibition slate with a crushing 88-52 victory over SBC Prerov Czech Republic at McKale Center Friday night.

UA head coach Joan Bonvicini came into the evening saying that she was going to utilize her bench a lot this season, and kept her word as all Wildcats on the roster played in the game, with all but two getting on the scoreboard.

Five Arizona players scored in double-digits, with another two scoring nine points each.

Senior forward Tatum Brown and sophomore center LaKeisha Taylor each scored 13 points, sophomore forward Elizabeth Pickney and senior guard Monika Crank cashed in 12 apiece and freshman guard Krista Warren added 10 points.

"I don't think that there is any one focal point on this team, we have a lot of different weapons and we have different looks we can give," Bonvicini said. "As you can tell, we have a lot of good players. I am trying to see for myself not only what combinations work well together, but how I am going to substitute."

The Wildcats are running a three guard, two post player offense this season, but that did not hinder the Arizona post players from taking control.

The UA frontcourt commanded the Czech club team statistically as Pickney, Taylor, Brown and senior forward Angela Lackey accounted for 47 points and 25 rebounds, which lifted a lot of the pressure off senior guard Felecity Willis, who was a go-to player last season.

"Our posts are much more aggressive than last year, they are fighting for positions, so (the guards) are going to get them the ball," Willis said. "The posts are working hard. This year, as guards, we have much more confidence in them, knowing that they can score or kick it back out for us to take."

Crank played in her first game since the 1997-98 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season workouts last year. Along with her 12 points, Crank recorded four rebounds and three assists.

"It feels really, really good to be back out there," Crank said. "Just being out there was exciting for me, just to come back out and be able to play."

Though the Wildcats defeated the Czechs by 36 points, Bonvicini said her team has room for improvement.

"This will be a pretty good teaching tool, even though we won, I want to use this as a way to get better," she said. "We have to do a better job (on defense) because we don't want to put people at the free-throw line. Instead of worrying about the score, let's learn and see what we can do here."