The Arizona Wildcats roster dwindled to eight available players this week when junior center Jennifer Kioa was ruled academically ineligible. She will not return this season, coach Niya Butts said.
Kioa averaged 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in eight games as a reserve and last played Dec. 20 against Georgia Tech. Arizona (8-7) plays Oregon (12-4) today at McKale Center.
"When you don't take care of business that happens, and everyone has to be willing to commit to not only basketball, but to academics and everything else," Butts said. "When that doesn't happen, it's obviously disappointing."
Kioa, a 6-foot, 4-inch transfer from Foothill College in California, is Arizona's tallest player. The remaining post players are Ify Ibekwe, Amanda Pierson and Soana Lucet.
"It doesn't help us one bit," Butts said about the team's depth, "but at the same time she has an opportunity to bounce back and hopefully she'll do that."
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Butts said Kioa could have played after Dec. 20, but she decided to hold her out before she was ruled ineligible at the start of the current semester Monday.
"We certainly don't want to become dependent upon a player that's not going to be with us in the second half of the season, so it was mainly a coach's decision," Butts said about holding Kioa out of games last month.
Like Arizona, Oregon doesn't use many players - six played more than 20 minutes in the Ducks' 73-68 loss to Arizona State on Thursday. With an up-tempo style, Oregon was leading the nation in scoring at 87 points a game before Thursday. Led by former NBA and Phoenix Mercury coach Paul Westhead, the Ducks rank second in the Pac-10 in field-goal percentage (45.1 percent) and three-point shooting (36.8 percent).
"They run, run in transition. They shoot threes in transition," Lucet said.
Guard Taylor Lilley ranks fourth in the Pac-10 in scoring at 16.4 points a game, and forward Amanda Johnson is second in rebounding at 10 a game.
"They have two pretty good players that make them go, so we're going to have to shut them down like we did (Thursday against Oregon State)," guard Davellyn Whyte said.
The Cats kept practice shorter than usual Friday to save their legs for today's afternoon game.
"They do a really good job of speeding the other team up," Butts said. "Other teams are making a lot of mistakes because of it, and they really capitalize."
TODAY
• What: Oregon at Arizona
• When: 2 p.m.
• Radio: 1400-AM (Game is tape delayed and will air in its entirety following the Arizona Cardinals NFL playoff game.)
