Blast from the Past: The one time Arizona played UConn

[Plebe]

Since Adia Barnes was hired at her alma mater, I've heard multiple times that she continues to hold the program's all-time scoring record. My curiosity was piqued by this, and I recently took a bit of a dive into the history books of the Arizona WBB program.

U of A has known precious little success in women's basketball. But a 5'11" undersized post player named Adia Barnes, playing under coach Joan Bonvicini, led the program to what remains its greatest success to date. In Barnes's sophomore year in 1996, Arizona won the WNIT, and in the following year made its first NCAA tournament appearance, losing in the 2nd round.

In 1998, her senior year, Arizona finished the regular season at 21-6 and 14-4 in the Pac-10. Barnes was named Pac-10 POY and a USBWA All-American (the only time an Arizona player has won either honor, as far as I can tell). Arizona received a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16, where they played #2 seed UConn in Dayton.

This was the first—and still to this day the only—time that these two programs have met. Thanks to the wonderful uconnhuskygames site, it was thrill to watch this blast from the past. The starting lineup for UConn:

 

[Plebe]

In this game, all five UConn starters would finish in double figures, led by Paige Sauer with 23 points and 15 rebounds. (UConn enjoyed a significant height advantage in this matchup.) Abrosimova as a freshman was extremely impressive.

Adia Barnes for Arizona had 17 points and 11 rebounds, but aside from her and Lisa Griffith (who hit 6 of 9 three-pointers), everyone else on Arizona shot poorly.

Arizona kept the game close for the most part, trailing by 3 at the half, but down the stretch got no closer than 8. Not a particularly well-played game, but entertaining to see through the lens of retrospection.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Doris Burke looks young! Arizona's shorts are hideous. Can't really bring myself to watch the whole game. I wanted to see the starting lineups. I thought maybe Shawntinice Polk was playing for UA, but she wasn't there yet.

Had to google it. She played 3 years starting in 2003 and died before her Sr. year. I don't think UA has ever really gotten over her tragic death, they've been near the cellar of the Pac ever since. Hopefully Barnes will continue to grow the program and move in a positive direction.

UConn's roster wasn't as star studded back then as they've grown accustomed to in more recent years.

 

[Plebe]

Doris Burke looks young! Arizona's shorts are hideous. Can't really bring myself to watch the whole game. I wanted to see the starting lineups. I thought maybe Shawntinice Polk was playing for UA, but she wasn't there yet.

Had to google it. She played 3 years starting in 2003 and died before her Sr. year. I don't think UA has ever really gotten over her tragic death, they've been near the cellar of the Pac ever since. Hopefully Barnes will continue to grow the program and move in a positive direction.

UConn's roster wasn't as star studded back then as they've grown accustomed to in more recent years.

I had totally forgotten about Polk. What an awful, tragic story. She died in September 2005, shortly before her senior season.

In 2003-04 and 2004-05, Arizona went 24-9 and 20-12. After Polk's death, they went 8-22, 11-21, and 10-20, after which Bonvicini was fired. U of A has had exactly one winning season since then.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Yeah from what I remember she was a real good player, and even better person. Larger than life personality, beloved by everybody. Totally shook the whole campus and probably the rest of the community when she died.

 

[PacoSwede]

so how about the rest of the story ... heart attack? car accident? disease? shot in crossfire? domestic? .... what happened?

 

[Plebe]

so how about the rest of the story ... heart attack? car accident? disease? shot in crossfire? domestic? .... what happened?

Pulmonary blood clot.

Arizona player Polk collapses, dies at 22