The Arizona women’s basketball team appeared convincing on offense Wednesday night in the Red-Blue Game, with the Red Team scoring 100 points.

Now, after weeks of practice, the team finally gets a chance to square off against an opponent without an Arizona jersey tonight at 7 p.m as it hosts Colorado State-Pueblo in McKale Center.

“”We want to be a good team, and our team is focused,”” UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said after the Red-Blue Game Wednesday night. “”I think this will really give us some confidence, and we’ll see how we do (tonight).””

Bonvicini has not yet decided on a starting lineup, saying that she will use the upcoming exhibition games to select her best combination of five players. One thing is for sure: Beatrice Bofia will not play because she sprained a lateral ligament in her leg Wednesday.

“”I’m going to evaluate that,”” Bonvicini said. “”It’s good we’ve done (the Red-Blue Game). I think the players have an idea what it’s like on game night, but now we play against someone else.””

Expectations are high for Arizona’s opponent, the Thunderwolves, who were picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference a season after making a DII NCAA appearance.

Although the game is merely an exhibition, Bonvicini said the Wildcats must work on several things tonight based on her team’s performance in the official scrimmage.

“”I don’t think we rebounded very well at all,”” Bonvicini said. “”We need to put more body into it and be more aggressive. I think our transition defense needs to be improved, and we need to execute the offense a lot better.

“”We say things look good, but when you go back and look at the tape, there’s going to be a lot of miscues here. We’re going to try to shorten those up in the next few days and get ready.””

After an offensive explosion, Bonvicini’s main focus now is on the defense. Her team scored 100 points in the Red-Blue Game, but her team plus a few practice squad players also allowed those 100 points.

“”The big thing is we have to improve defensively,”” Bonvicini said. “”We have to be a little bit more physical, but I like that we’re deep. I like that we have a lot of different options.””