It's Ten O'clock: Do You Know Where The Lady Wildcats Are? By Tom Danehy I KNOW IT'S been a week and a half since the UA-Stanford women's basketball game, but thanks to the magic of publication deadlines, to me it feels like it just happened a couple days ago. It was without a doubt one of the best basketball games I've ever seen. Not one of the best women's basketball games, one of the best games, period. It was also a landmark game for the UA women, a climb to the top of the Pac-10 standings made all the sweeter by the fact that they had to step over the many-time defending champions to do so. The game had everything--great shooting, tough defense, sweet passes, and a heart-stopping, ESPY-like finish. You should've been there. I mean, you really should've. Unfortunately, according to the latest census figures, 693,472 of y'all sorry emm-effs had something better to do that night. It was a Monday night, so what better thing could there possibly have been to do? Let's see, NBC has a lineup featuring Brooke Shields, Jenny McCarthy, Lea Thompson and Tea Leoni, which amounts to a two-hour infomercial to get guys to give homosexuality a try. Or, at least, celibacy. I'm sure a handful of Rosie Palmers didn't want to skip Melrose Place, for fear they might miss seeing who or what, along with the viewers' last few remaining brain cells, might have died on that episode. They could've taped Melrose and watched it after Mom went to bed, but people who watch that show don't know how to operate a VCR. Besides, if they like that dreck, they probably get enough entertainment just by watching the "12:00" flashing on and off. Another few thousand probably showed up at Famous Sam's by force of habit, not realizing that Monday Night Football was over four weeks ago. That leaves about 600,000 of you without a good excuse for passing up a chance to witness history. I'm waiting for an explanation. Actually, if you're not a fan of women's basketball, that's fine. It's like Yogi Berra might have said: "If people don't want to come to the game, nobody's going to stop them." But I'm telling you that you missed a once-in-a-lifetime game, and I want you to feel badly about it. The crowd was announced as just over 3,000. It looked bigger, and sounded much bigger. We got to watch as the UA played strong at the beginning, then slowly but steadily was overtaken by a Stanford team with an unlikely 8-4 record but a usual stable of All-American candidates, including Olympia Scott, Kristen Nygaard and volleyball star Kristin Folkl. Stanford had shrugged off a brief two-point UA lead by draining a three-pointer with 12 seconds left. The Cats hurried the ball down court. It went to star Adia Barnes, who was smothered by the Cardinal defense, then ended up in the hands of redshirt freshman Reshea Bristol, who took a quick dribble and then let fly a 19-footer that settled in the net after the buzzer had sounded. Bristol was mobbed by her teammates and coaches, while the crowd went nuts. I've seen a lot of games at McKale, and I remember only a couple times when a crowd of 15,000 was louder than that. (There was the time Sean Rooks scored at the buzzer against UCLA to keep the home-winning streak alive; and, for you old-timers, the time the John Smith-led Cats upset UCLA and No. 1-ranked USC in back-to-back games. 'Course, the latter doesn't really count because they used to have bleachers for the students back then, which means they actually let students into the games. Plus, there was that Spaghetti Company giveaway and all. Anybody will scream for free Italian food.) The local media gave the game good play (although most haven't taken the time to learn that Bristol's first name is pronounced "Ree-shuh," not "Ruh-shay" or "Ruh-shay-uh"). The zanies at ESPN went absolutely nuts, what with the natural tie-in to their Bristol, Connecticut, location. "Why, it's Bristol for the winning shot! Let's hear it for Bristol!!" The Tucson TV stations had learned a lesson a few days earlier. The UA women were playing a good-but-not-great Washington State team the previous Thursday, a game which should have served as a warm-up for the 10-0 Washington team due in McKale on Saturday, and Stanford on Monday. The two stations I watched had highlights from the first half of the game, but then ended lamely with, "But the Cats couldn't hold on and fell to the Cougars, 64-61." What nobody mentioned was that WSU had been down three with 11 seconds left, had made a three to tie it, rebounded the UA's hurried shot, then made a half-court shot at the buzzer to stun Arizona. Either the TV guys didn't know what had happened, or they didn't want to admit that they hadn't had their crews stick around for the end. Occasionally, time considerations force a camera crew to leave a game early, but there's no way that we fans should have had to wait for the next day's paper to learn of WSU's miracle finish. I asked Reshea, who'd just moved into the starting lineup and responded with back-to-back career highs against Washington and Stanford, if she'd ever heard of Wally Pipp (the guy who was replaced for one game by Lou Gehrig and never got his spot back). She hadn't, so I told her. She smiled nervously and said, "We win as a team." After the game, hundreds of young girls stood outside the UA locker room, waiting for autographs and a glimpse of their heroes. A few yards down the hall, Miles Simon stood, unnoticed and undisturbed by the throng. As I was getting ready to leave, I saw a few girls sheepishly approach UA Coach Joan Bonvicini, who was obviously elated but even more obviously exhausted by the evening's events. The kids just wanted to say hello and offer congratulations, but Bonvicini took the time to shake each kid's hand, ask their names, and then thank them for coming. Like any true champion, on this night of great things, she saved the best for last.

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