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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini watched her team dominate, disappear and finally survive.
"The first game is so many times the toughest," she said
Saturday after her Wildcats (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today , No. 21 AP) built a double-digit lead then withstood a late charge by Kent to win 73-61 in a first-round game in the women's NCAA tournament Mideast Regional.
Kent "made a great run in the second half, so we're just very
glad we won," Bonvicini said.
Arizona (25-6), making its fourth consecutive tournament
appearance, raced to a 23-point lead midway through the second half
before Mid-American Conference champion Kent (25-6) fought back.
A 16-foot jumper by Carrie Nance cut the Arizona lead to 66-61
with just under two minutes to play. Kent, however, was scoreless
from there.
"We played well for about 32 minutes of the game," Kent coach
Bob Lindsay said. "For a stretch of time in the second half, we
came out flat and let Arizona get up on the points."
Arizona scratched out a 37-29 at halftime, then burst out after
intermission with a 15-4 run sparked by three 3-pointers by Lisa
Griffith to go up 52-33 less than three minutes into the period.
The Wildcats' biggest lead was 60-37 after a layup by LaKeisha
Taylor with 13 minutes to play.
Kent then went on a 14-0 run over the next seven minutes, with
Nance's jumper cutting the deficit to five with 1:50 remaining.
"I just think we expended so much energy coming back from that
20-point deficit that it was hard to get on top," Lindsay said.
"We tried to get out of the hole, then push it over the top, but
Arizona's a strong team."
Arizona scored 27 points off 21 turnovers, and made 76 percent
of its free throws (16-of-21), while Kent made only one of 10
3-point shots.
"We were fortunate to have some great runs," Bonvicini said.
"We capitalized on steals in transition (and) got some easy
baskets that way."
Griffith led Arizona with 19 points, Felicity Willis had 13,
Elizabeth Pickney 11 and Angela Lackey 10. Kent got 20 points from
Julie Studer, 15 from Nance and 10 from Alana Bader.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Kent NCAA Team Report
Arizona NCAA Team Report
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