2015 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Media Day: Arizona is hoping Batman comes to the rescue

SAN FRANCISCO — Arizona forward LaBrittney Jones was the WOMAN in high school. The three-time team captain came through in the clutch time and time again for Cedar Hill High School in Cedar Hill, Texas, and she needed a name fitting for the work she was putting in.

As such, her high school coaches and teammates started calling her Batman. Now a junior in Tucson, Jones is one of the leaders of a Wildcats team that is trying to claw its way out of the conference basement, and head coach Niya Butts could use a few superhuman performances out of her leading returning scorer and rebounder.

“We need The Avengers, Batman, whoever she wants to show up as, as long as it’s a superhero. We’ll take it,” Butts said at 2015 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Media Day.

[Related: 2015-16 Arizona women's basketball schedule]

To help prepare for this year, Jones says she has been working build to muscles around her legs because of knee issues she has previously had.

“Over the summer, I did a lot of strength and conditioning training. I know we have our team workouts, but I even tried to get in extra,” Jones said. “So that was my main goal this summer, to put on more weight, which I’m still in the process of, but to gain more muscle and get in better shape.”

She won’t have to go it alone, though, because the Wildcats have more bodies available to them than in recent years. Taryn Griffey, who missed all of her freshman season with an injury, is ready to go and has looked impressive in practice, according to Butts. After having just seven players who played in every game last year, Butts has an abundance of riches by comparison to work with in preseason practices.

“At practice last weekend, we put five in, and then I looked over and we had five more, and we had some more after that. And I was thinking to myself ‘this feels pretty good right now,’” Butts said.

Having a superhero on your side never hurts, though.