Arizona Set for Exhibition Affair With Concordia

Arizona (0-0) vs. Concordia (0-0)
Tucson, Ariz. | McKale Center 
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 | 3:00 p.m. MST
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Radio: None | TV: None

TUCSON, Ariz.--- The University of Arizona Women’s Basketball team will open up the up the 2014-15 campaign with an exhibition affair against Concordia University, Tuesday at 3 p.m. inside the McKale Center.

The game will serve as the first and only exhibition contest for the Wildcats before they tip off the regular season next Monday, Nov. 17 at home against Cal State Bakersfield.

Head coach Niya Butts returns for her seventh season at the helm of the Wildcat program and looks to take advantage of a fully reloaded roster containing a balanced mix of seven returners, including three starters from a year ago to go along with seven talented newcomers, which make up one of the strongest recruiting classes in program history.

The Cats have every reason to be optimistic as they embark on the new campaign, as they return their leading scorer from a year ago in senior guard Candice Warthen (11.1 ppg), while they also welcome back senior forward Alli Gloyd, who averaged 9.4 points and six rebounds per game during the 2012-13 campaign. Gloyd missed all of last season due to a torn ACL.

Arizona boasts 13 healthy players coming into the new year, which is a big deal for a program that played with seven or less healthy bodies during the final 13 games of last season.

Tuesday’s contest will not count toward either team’s official 2014-15 record.

Inside the Series: Arizona vs. Concordia (CA)
This will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs.

Scouting the Eagles
Concordia is an NAIA member and finished last season with a 12-15 overall record, while going 5-9 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Eagles return their top two scorers from a year ago in senior center Ashley Ellis (13.7 ppg) and junior forward Brittany Stafford (10.5 ppg). Ellis also averaged a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per contest last season. Concordia (2-0) has yet to lose so far in regular season play, as it defeated Occidental College 52-37 in its opener, while it took down the California Institute of Technology 109-39 last Friday. However, the Eagles fell to Pac-12 foe USC 120-56 last Saturday in exhibition action.

Looking Ahead
Tuesday’s exhibition contest will be the Wildcats’ first and only tune-up game before Arizona opens up the 2014-15 regular season next Monday, Nov. 17 against Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m. MST inside the McKale Center. Arizona will play three of its first four contests at home, counting the exhibition game

Rinse and Repeat
Arizona earned an 80-65 victory over Fort Lewis College in last season’s exhibition opener. Sophomore forward LaBrittney Jones notched a double-double, recording a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds in the win, while senior guard Candice Warthen chipped in with 24 points of her own on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.

Cats Tabbed 12th in Pac-12 Preseason Polls
Arizona was picked to finish 12th in the conference in both the preseason media and coaches’ polls. The Cats received 12 overall points in the media poll to finish just behind Colorado, who received 42 points. UA tallied 12 points in the coaches’ poll, while Utah claimed 28 votes, as it was placed 11th.

Stanford (116, 7 first place), California (111, 3 first place), and Oregon State (105, 2 first place) rounded out the coaches’ picks for the conference’s top three finishers, while the media picked California (194, 9 first place) to take home the league crown, followed by Stanford (190, 7 first place) and Oregon State (162, 1 first place).

Hit Me With Your Best Shot
The 2014-15 slate is once again littered with top-notch competition, as Arizona will play 17 contests against teams who qualified for postseason play a year ago, including seven matches with teams ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ preseason polls in No. 6/6 Stanford, No. 15/14 California, No. 20/21 Oregon State, and No. 23/23 UCLA. Conference foes Oregon, USC, and Arizona State are also receiving votes in either one or both preseason polls. The Cats will clash with those schools a combined five times. 

Lights, Camera, Action
Arizona games will be shown on a television a school-record 14 times this season, all on the Pac-12 Networks.

By The Numbers
Arizona returns 53 percent of its total points scored (913/1,736), 48 percent of its rebounds (494/1,020), 54 percent of its field goals made (357/661), 25 percent of its three-pointers made (27/109), 56 percent of its free throws converted (172/305), 41 percent of its assists (140/344), and 53 percent of its steals from a season ago (103/193).

“Gloyd” to Have You Back
Senior forward Alli Gloyd returns to action after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. Gloyd averaged 9.4 points and six rebounds per game during the 2012-13 campaign. If one were to plug in her 2012-13 numbers into last year’s overall statistics, she would have led the team in free throw percentage (.739) and overall rebounding (6.0), while her total steals (37) and points per game (9.4) would rank second among all returners. Gloyd scored in double figures 14 separate times during 2012-13.

Healthy Cats
Arizona played the final 13 games of last season with seven healthy players or less. The Cats enter 2014-15 with practically double that amount with 13 healthy players.

New Kids on the Block
Arizona welcomes seven new faces to the program in freshmen guards JaLea Bennett, Cherice Harris, Charise Holloway, and Taryn Griffey, who was ranked as the 21st best guard and the 86th overall prospect in the nation according to ESPNW’s 2014 HoopGurlz Recruiting rankings. The class is considered one of the best in program history. Transfer guards Malena Washington (Tyler JC), Chy Cunningham (Paris JC) and Lauren Evans (Virginia Tech) also enter their first seasons with the program.

All Over the Map
Arizona boasts players from seven different states, as four players are from California, four are from Texas, two are from Arizona, while Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, and Washington are each represented once on the roster.

Follow the Cats!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics), Twitter (@AZATHLETICS), Instagram (azathletics) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/ArizonaAthletics). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaWomensBasketball), Twitter (@ArizonaWBBall), and Instagram (ArizonaWBBall) accounts.