Following Saturday’s lopsided 66-42 loss to USC, Arizona women’s basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini may have a reason for her team’s poor offensive output.

All seniors playing in the game, including UA guards Joy Hollingsworth and Linda Pace, were honored in a ceremony for Senior Day at the Galen Center, and neither team was allowed to warm up afterward, Bonvicini said.

“”This may sound crazy, but the players never touched the ball until it was tipped off,”” she said. “”Usually you get a few more minutes to practice, but we never did. It really made a big difference.””

The scoreboard at halftime may have suggested cold shooters on both teams, as it read 24-19 USC, the lowest scoring half of the season for both teams.

The two squads also shot a combined 15-of-55 (27.2 percent) in the half, well off either team’s season average.

Hollingsworth said teams are normally given at least 20 minutes before games to practice, but on Saturday they were only given eight, and it was more than 20 minutes before game time.

“”After the horn blew at the 15-minute mark for the national anthem, there was no time to shoot baskets right before the game,”” she said. “”We couldn’t really get our juices flowing and concentrate on the game. Both teams did come out a little sluggish.””

Bonvicini said the ceremony should not necessarily have taken place after the game, like it does at Senior Day for Arizona basketball teams, but she attributed the team’s early struggles to the lack of preparation.

“”Every school does it differently,”” she said. “”I wanted to give the seniors their due, and they deserved it, but there needed to be some time for the players to shoot before the game. Maybe they should have started it earlier.””

The Trojans rebounded from their first-half woes to score 42 points in the second half, Arizona’s total for the whole game.

“”I definitely think it affected both teams in the first half,”” Bonvicini said. “”It was not a pretty first half as far as offense goes. I definitely think it contributed to it.””

Most of Arizona’s games this year have not been televised, but Saturday’s was on FSN, and that may have been a reason for the prompt start time.

“”Everyone should be honored, but I also think you’re there to play the game,”” Bonvicini said. “”I think there needs to be a happy medium there.””

Hollingsworth admitted she was frustrated with the lack of preparedness before the game, but she said the team cannot pin the loss on just that.

“”In the end, we just couldn’t put two halves together,”” she said. “”You can’t really blame warmups for anything though. We came out sluggish, but in the end, they out-rebounded us, and we just couldn’t make shots that we usually make.””

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Guard Jessica Arnold, who was forced to leave Saturday’s game after falling on her back trying to defend USC guard Shay Murphy, should be cleared to play Saturday against No. 10 ASU, Bonvicini said.