Feb. 19, 2011

Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash. - University of Arizona Wildcat women's basketball picked up its third-straight win and its second straight on the road with a 74-66 victory over the hosting Washington Huskies in Seattle, Wash. on Saturday. Arizona moves to 16-9 overall and 7-7 in Pac-10 play. Washington drops to 10-14 overall and 5-10 in conference action.

"This really was a team effort for us," head coach Niya Butts said. "There were some times we struggled but our bench was really outstanding for us today. They came on the court with energy and enthusiasm. The bench gave us a big push today and we actually went ahead with the second unit in the game."

Senior forward Ify Ibekwe paced the Cats with 24 points and six rebounds. She was one of three Arizona players to score in double figures with 14 points from senior forward Soana Lucet and 11 points from junior guard Brooke Jackson.

For the game, the Wildcats shot 50.0 percent from the field (24-48), 50.0 percent from three-point range (12-21) and 84.0 percent from the charity stripe (21-25) while Washington shot 38.7 percent, 41.7 percent and 68.4 percent, respectively.

Arizona showed its depth in the first half with sophomore guard Davellyn Whyte, Lucet and Ibekwe on the bench for the last 5:22 of the first 20 minutes. When the trio took to the bench, Arizona led the Huskies, 23-20. The Cats went to the locker room with a 38-26 lead. Brooke Jackson, Shanita Arnold and Tasha Dickey carried the Cats' offense through the half.

Arizona shot 44.4 percent (12-27) from the field, 66.7 percent (4-6) from three-point range and 90.9 percent (10-11). Washington shot 32.0 percent (8-25) from the field and 71.4 percent (10-14) from the charity stripe while being denied from behind the three-point arc on four attempts.

For Washington, Kristi Kingma was their leading scorer with 21 points. Sarah Morton chipped in with 10 points and six assists.

In the starting line-up on Saturday were junior guard Shanita Arnold, Ibekwe, Lucet, junior guard Reiko Thomas and Whyte. Jackson got the most minutes off the bench with 24.

Arizona will return to the friendly confines of McKale Center to host UCLA on Thurs., Feb. 24 and USC on Sat., Feb 26.

Niya Butts postgame at Washington