On Sunday, Lucia Alonso will go through her regular game day routine.
Sheβll eat chicken, vegetables and pasta. Sheβll watch a little TV and listen to music before she gets taped, listens to more music, and takes the court for the Arizona Wildcatsβ second-round matchup with Pacific in the WNIT.
Rinse, wash, repeat. It never changes.
Not for an exhibition game, a nonconference game, a Pac-12 game or a World Cup game.
And definitely not for a WNIT game.
Some may say that Arizonaβs junior point guard is set in her ways. Others may say sheβs disciplined. Whatever it is it seems to be working.
But Arizona coach Adia Barnes thinks thereβs more to Alonsoβs routine than just being disciplined.
βShe is superstitious; I didnβt know how much she was like that,β said Barnes, whose team hosts Pacific at 3 p.m. Sunday. βItβs the superstition and just the comfort. For me, Iβm not like that. ... I felt like I had to take a nap before, but it wasnβt like I had to take a certain nap, a certain way, wearing the same thing. Some people have to put the right shoe on first or the left shoe on first, a certain pair of socks. Some people are very superstitious. You see it more in the pros.β
Alonso, formerly a member of Spainβs U16, U18 and U19 teams, is no stranger to big games.
βHer international experience is important. She has a calmness to her, a steadiness,β said Barnes. βShe came out and played big (in a first-round WNIT win against Idaho State on Thursday). Her experience overall helps calm us. You know what you are going to get from Lucia every night. Sometimes you may say you want her to shoot more, but sheβs never going to take a bad shot. Sheβs just a team player.
βI love coaching her and I love the way she plays. Now, remember, there is always a special place in my heart for Lucia because she was my first recruit here. So I think thatβs just special to me. ... I remember the first year I was patting her on the back and saying, βitβs going to get better, donβt worry.β Everybody was looking at me like, βhuh, are you serious?β But she stuck it out. So, we laugh about that β what weβve both overcome in this program.β
Alonso started as a freshman. Thatβs not easy, especially while she was perfecting her English those first few months. Alonso said that the game of basketball doesnβt change much from Spain to Tucson. One thing that helps is the European-style that Barnes runs.
βWe share the ball, we play together, we run our plays,β said Alonso. βWe make reads and our plays depend on the defense.β
So is there a difference between World Cup games and the WNIT?
βWhen you play in the world championships you play every day and you have to be ready,β said Alonso. β(Otherwise) itβs not much different. Maybe in how we prepare for games. The coaches watch film, but they donβt really have time to do a whole scout. Now, (at UA) we have time to watch film from yesterday and watch film for Sunday.
βBut I feel like how you prepare for a game β I try to do the same thing every day. It doesnβt matter if I am playing in the final or a group game. ... I try not to think about why you are playing the game β not to let the emotions control you. Itβs very important in these kind of games.β
Alonso didnβt flinch in her first postseason game at Arizona on Thursday; she did her part to help the freshmen not get awed by the moment.
βWe had a very large crowd, which is exciting, but it can be scary sometimes (for freshmen),β she said.
With a short bench last season, Alonso was called on to play nearly 40 minutes every game. The plan this season was to split her time running the offense with Aari McDonald. It was working until the Wildcats went to Oregon and Alonso hurt her left ankle. She missed the better part of two games before returning for the next four, then re-injured her ankle in practice and played limited minutes the last homestand of the season and in the Pac-12 Tournament.
β(This last week off) helped me to get back on track. It was like three weeks off, so I started feeling myself again,β said Alonso. βI was feeling scared on my ankle. It was really sore. But now Iβm not thinking about it; I am just playing, which is much easier. ... Now I can play and I donβt feel anything. I wouldnβt say itβs 100 percent, because last night after the game I was like, βoh, yeah, I played today.ββ
While she was out, McDonald and Tee Tee Starks both stepped up to fill the void. Yet there is so much that Alonso brings on a daily basis to the Wildcats β including whatβs not in the box score β that no one person could cover it all.
βFor LuLu, the biggest thing is her experience at that position,β said senior Lindsey Malecha. βShe handles the ball and she is a shooter and sheβs been at that position for three years now, so she knows that position well. She knows how what she needs to do to handle really any type of defense.
βWhile the other girls can do that, too, itβs like Luβs type of thing. Lu is so good at not turning the ball over. It really comes down to she is so experienced at it. Everybody remains pretty calm, but the thing I admire the most about Lu is that people will be in her face doubling her, she never lets it get to her. She remains calm. ... She is like no other player.β
And donβt forget her step-back 3.
In Thursday nightβs win, Alonso played 25 minutes for the first time in weeks and scored six points β both 3s. If she hits two more Sunday, sheβll move into a tie for ninth place with Monika Crane for made 3s in UA history with 106.
Arizona hasnβt hosted or won more than one postseason game since the 1998 NCAA Tournament. While the Wildcats are locked in and hoping to crack another milestone, Alonso and her teammates are having the most fun since she arrived on campus three years ago.
βI am very happy and itβs really exciting,β said Alonso. βIt says a lot about this program and what Coach Adia is doing. I really love playing with the team. We all like each other and have a good chemistry. We just have fun. Thatβs the most important thing.β
Stoudamire torn between Pacific, UA
Former UA menβs basketball standout Damon Stoudamire is the head coach for Pacificβs menβs team. Heβs not quite sure who heβll be rooting for Sunday.
βI guess it would be a little harder if our menβs team was playing Arizona, but this does seem weird,β said Stoudamire, whose team went 14-18 in his third season at the helm. βPacific has a good womenβs team and Iβm proud of them. On the flip side ... I think (Barnes) has done an amazing job in a short time. And sheβs one of our own. I wouldnβt have expected anything different from her.