Ify Ibekwe rode a roller coaster of emotions when she heard the Pac-10 coaches voted the Arizona Wildcats to finish ninth in the conference.
She went from feeling upset to feeling sad. Ultimately, she wants to use the snub as motivation.
"We came to practice, and Coach told us what we need to do, stay mentally focused, and we have to practice hard every day and be good teammates," Ibekwe, a junior forward, said Friday afternoon during the team's media day at McKale Center. "Because the only way you're going to get to where you want to is by working hard."
After finishing 12-19 overall and 4-14 to tie for eighth in the league last season, the Cats hope to prove the prediction wrong. The coaches predicted Stanford to win its 10th straight title, followed by Cal and Arizona State. Only Washington was picked to finish behind Arizona, which will play five newcomers during coach Niya Butts' second season.
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"The rest of the coaches in the Pac-10 don't really think we're going to be that good, but that's motivation for us," Butts said. "Our team was not really happy about that, so we have something to work for and something to prove, and I like that."
Butts, the former University of Tennessee guard, will lead her first full recruiting class, which is expected to employ a more up-tempo style of play.
Freshman guard Davellyn Whyte, the Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year, and Brooke Jackson, a shooting guard from Mesa College, can back up Ashley Frazier at point guard. Junior college transfers Jennifer Kioa, a 6-foot-4-inch center, Amanda Pierson and Soana Lucet are posts who can run. Guard Tasha Dickey also returns after missing last season because of an ankle injury.
"We tried that (up-tempo style) some last year, but sometimes personnel limited us from doing that. But with the group we have this year, you guys are going to be looking for some exciting basketball," Butts said. "We're going to get up and down the floor. We're going to try to score before the defense gets in front of us, and we're going to try to get after some people full-court defensively as well."
The Cats should also be able to surround Ibekwe, a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and honorable mention All-American, with more "firepower" and rest her more, allowing her to be more effective, Butts said.
Ibekwe has missed practice since Sunday, when she suffered a broken nose during a workout. She said she has had headaches, but hopes to return by Tuesday.
Ibekwe said the team has meshed well together, and she is looking to be a leader. Frazier, the senior point guard, has also become more vocal after she led the Pac-10 in minutes (39.6 per game) played last season.
"I love my team," Frazier said. "We're going to do a lot of great things. We have to make people respect us. That's what we plan on doing."
Rim shots
• Butts will spar with former Arizona pitcher Jennifer Martinez at 3 p.m. Oct. 31 at Undisputed. Butts has been training in boxing for more than a month.
• In addition to their regular blue road uniforms, the Cats will also wear red road uniforms.
