Ibekwe leads UA women in rout of Bradley

Published Nov. 28, 2010 1:22 a.m. ET

foxsports

CANCUN, Mexico -- The Arizona women's basketball team improved to 5-1 on the season with an 82-59 win over the Bradley Braves (3-3) on Saturday at the Cancun Thanksgiving Classic.

"We played a much better second half tonight than we did last night," Wildcats coach Niya Butts said. "We also took care of the ball a lot better and cut down on our turnovers. We had some key performances tonight from Ify Ibekwe, Soana Lucet and a quiet double-double from Erica Barnes. Overall, I think we had a great tournament. There's still work to be done, but we made some solid improvements."

Ibekwe led the Wildcats with 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Ibekwe was one of four Wildcats to score in double digits along with Lucet (19), Barnes (12) and sophomore Davellyn Whyte (12).

Barnes, a freshman, recorded her second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds in addition to her 12 points. She was also 6 for 7 from the field. Whyte grabbed four steals and junior Shanita Arnold dished out six assists while scoring eight points. Of the nine Wildcats who logged playing time against Bradley, nine scored and five grabbed at least one rebound.

For the sixth straight game, Arnold, Ibekwe, junior Brooke Jackson, Lucet and Whyte made the start for the Wildcats. Freshman Candice Warthen racked up the most minutes off the bench with 19.