Women’s hoops player O’Neal to transfer

Arizona women’s basketball player Malia O’Neal will transfer to another school, head coach Joan Bonvicini announced yesterday. O’Neal, the third Wildcat to transfer from the team since the end of last season, has not yet stated which school she is leaving for.

O’Neal, a 5-foot-5 junior guard from Seattle, averaged 3.2 points, 2.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds a game last season, making an appearance in all 32 games, including 12 starts.

She was voted Arizona’s Most Improved Player at the end of last season.

Forward Whitney Fields transferred from Arizona to Long Beach State, where Bonvicini coached for 12 seasons in the 1980s and ’90s. Fields played in 19 games last season – starting one – and registered 2.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Seattle native Kelsey Burns opted to leave the team for Seattle Pacific after averaging 7.3 minutes per game in 15 appearances as a guard off the bench.

The Wildcats kick off their season Nov. 9 at Penn State in the WBCA/Basketball Travelers Classic.

Bonvicini did not return phone calls yesterday.

Dosty’s redshirt announced

Arizona volleyball outside hitter Whitney Dosty will redshirt this season because of knee injuries, head coach Dave Rubio announced yesterday. Rubio said last month that the sophomore would redshirt, though it took several weeks to make a formal statement.

Dosty tore the medial collateral ligament in her right knee in July while practicing with the USA Junior National Volleyball Team in Thailand. While favoring the right knee, she developed tendonitis in her left knee.

Dosty played in the Wildcats’ annual Red-Blue intrasquad scrimmage Aug. 19, but did not practice in full again until Sept. 19.

Last season, the 6-foot-3 Tucson native Dosty earned Pacific 10 Conference All-Freshman Team accolades. She led the team in kills 13 times, including a career- and conference-high 29 against Oregon in November.

Rubio said despite the disappointment of losing his star attacker, having her on the court in practice for the rest of this season will help her for future seasons.

“”More so than anything, for her to reach her potential as a student-athlete at Arizona, she needs many opportunities to touch the ball,”” he said. “”Having another year to do that can pay dividends.””

Lance Madden