Trio to transfer from W-Hoops

Arizona loses three contributors from 2011-2012 squad

By CAMERON MOON Published April 16, 2012 at 3:28am Updated April 16, 2012 at 3:28am

The Arizona women’s basketball team is losing three players to transfers from the 15-17 team it put on the floor this season.

Freshman guard Erin Butler, junior guard Lindsey Fearing and freshman center Aley Rohde have elected to leave Arizona and transfer elsewhere, the UA announced Friday.

Rohde, the highest recruited player of the Niya Butts tenure at Arizona, started and played in all but one game for the Wildcats in her first season. She averaged 7.6 points and six rebounds per game. The Cave Creek, Ariz., native had spurts of excellence, racking up 21 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Long Beach State in December along with a 14-point, 11-rebound performance in an overtime loss to California in February, but Rohde was never able to put together a string of performances to pull the team out of a eight-game losing streak in the middle of the season.

Butler did not play nearly as much as Rohde, but her shooting ability and energy off the bench helped the team win games, such as the game at Oregon, in which Butler scored 23 points — 21 of which came from 3-pointers. Against Washington State, in a lopsided 90-51 win, Butler registered 21 points — 15 of which came beyond the arc. Butler averaged 3.4 points per game on the season.

Junior guard Lindsey Fearing, who transferred from Casper College after two seasons, started three games for Arizona and played in 25, averaging 2.4 points and one rebound per game.

All three will finish the semester at the UA. Their departure leaves the Wildcats with just six returning scholarship players to the team for next season.