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Michele Roberts has watched basketball for as long as she can remember. It was an easy choice growing up in a home with one TV and two older brothers. When she saw an interview last year with an NBA player and noticed how passionately he talked about trying to improve his embattled union, she wanted to be more than a fan. She wanted to be involved. That got her started toward becoming the first woman to lead a North American pro sports union. Roberts was elected early Tuesday morning as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, and the Washington trial lawyer is eager to provide the leadership it needs after a few difficult years. "They were looking for, not a man, not a woman, they were looking for a personality," Roberts said in a phone interview. "I think Im that personality and I intend to be what I have been in my entire practice, singularly devoted to this union. And thats what they were looking for. "Someone, whether it be a boy or a girl, who understood that this was their union, and they intended to run it, and they were looking for someone who appreciated that and was not going to deviate from that." Roberts received 32 of 36 votes at a meeting of players in Las Vegas, defeating tech industry CEO Dean Garfield and Dallas Mavericks CEO Terdema Ussery in the final vote. It capped a long and arduous process to replace Billy Hunter, who was ousted in February 2013. Roberts was one of the finalists initially offered to the rank-and-file during All-Star weekend in February, but the process was re-opened under another search committee at the urging of some players and agents. More than 100 players reconvened in Las Vegas this week, and after some tense moments leading up to the vote, Roberts emerged as the winner. "Obviously I wouldve preferred that it happen sooner rather than later, but I completely understood when there were questions raised about the process," Roberts said. "Frankly, I would not have wanted them to ignore those questions and not affirmatively address those concerns. I wanted the job in February, but I wanted the job where there would be no questions about the fairness or the process, so I completely endorsed the executive committee to address these questions, and they did and now best I can tell theyre very pleased." The players considered more than 300 candidates during their 17-month search before picking Roberts, who has been called the finest trial lawyer in Washington by "Washingtonian Magazine." She said her new job will feature straight, honest talk, just like she delivers to a jury, and strategizing, things that have made her such a successful lawyer. The search to replace Hunter, who led the NBPA from 1996 until a review of the union was critical of his business practices, leaves players with less than two years to prepare for the next potential collective bargaining talks. Either the union or the league can opt out of the current agreement in 2017. The union has struggled for years with in-fighting and a lack of organization, and the players took a significant cut in their guarantee of basketball-related income -- 57 per cent to about 50 per cent, a drop of hundreds of millions annually in salary costs -- in the contentious lockout in 2011. League revenues are on the rise, a new TV contract is set to be negotiated in 2016 and franchise valuations are skyrocketing. "As far as Im concerned, preparations for CBA negotiations started yesterday," Roberts said. "Its at the top of my list of things that Ive been instructed to begin the process of preparing for, and sure its a lot to do, but Ive never been shy about hard work and long hours, so well get it done. Well be ready." NBA Commissioner Adam Silver congratulated Roberts in a statement, saying he looked forward to working with her "to ensure the continued health and growth of our game." "The partnership between our players and teams is the backbone of the league, and we are eager to continue working with the Players Association to build this relationship," Silver said. The fallout from the lockout and the Hunter ouster left the union reeling. But it also made Roberts want to get involved, which will bring the New York native back home. "The more I thought about it," she said, "the more I thought that would be a great opportunity to do something really important." Nike Baseball Jerseys 2020 . The Oilers jumped into the free agent market early by signing defencemen Keith Aulie (six-foot-six, 228 pounds) and Mark Fayne (6-3, 210 pounds) and left-winger Benoit Pouliot (6-3, 197-pounds). Two days earlier MacTavish traded lightweight forward Sam Gagner to Tampa Bay for 6-3, 203-pound right winger Ted Purcell. Cheap Baseball Jerseys China . 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Even knowing what was coming, the Buffaloes didnt stand much of a chance. Unable to match Arizona after a close first half, Colorado lost to the fourth-ranked Wildcats 63-43 in the Pac-12 semifinals on Friday night. "We knew they were good defensively and we knew we were going to have to make some shots to beat them. We couldnt get going," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "Their defence had something to do with that. Our offence had something to do with that." Arizona (30-3) crushed Utah in its tournament opener behind a record-setting defensive show. The Wildcats didnt peel open the record book against Colorado, but they sure gave the Buffaloes fits. Unlike its previous win over Colorado, Arizona started slow, allowing the Buffaloes to keep it close at halftime. Once they got rolling, Colorado had no answer for the Wildcats defensive pressure and string of highlight-reel plays that had MGM Grand Garden Arena feeling like McKale Center West. Arizona shot 60 per cent in the second half and held Colorado (23-11) to 5-of-22 shooting in the final 20 minutes to earn a spot Saturdays championship game against UCLA or Stanford. Nick Johnson scored 16 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 12 and eight rebounds for Arizona. T.J. McConnell facilitated the Wildcats offence and spearheaded the top of the D, finishing with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds "Our defence became great in the second half, but our offence found its flow," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "We shared the ball. We were more ourselves. It was that combination that really broke the game open." Colorado was able to hang with Arizona behind its defence in the first half. But playing their third game in as many days took its toll on the Buffaloes in the second half and they had no pushback when the Wildcats started to race away. Askia Booker had 20 points to lead Colorado, which shot 29 per cent overall and was outrebounded 41-25. Now the Buffaloes have a two-day wait to see if the NCAA tournament selection committee deems them worthy of the bracket. "Im hoping to get in the tournament," Boyle said. "Im not going to be presumptuous and say were in, because these guys werent with us three years ago when our team didnt get in and deserved to get in. I think werre in, but thats not for me to decide or anybody else in this room to decide.dddddddddddd" Arizona put on a show in its tournament opener, flexing its defensive muscles for everyone to see with an overwhelming quarterfinal victory over Utah. The Wildcats held the Utes to 13 first-half points, 39 overall, 12 field goals and 25 per cent shooting -- all tournament records. The 32-point margin also matched the largest in tournament history. Arizona pulled a similar smothering act on Colorado in the teams last meeting. After a 12-point loss in Tucson, Johnson proclaimed Arizona wasnt that good and that the Buffaloes would beat the Wildcats by 20, even with leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie out for the season. The Wildcats turned the slight into a fury, holding Colorado without a field goal for the opening 10 minutes and shooting 84 per cent in the second half an 88-61 win -- their first in Boulder since 1973. The Buffaloes got off to a better start this time, scoring 8 1/2 minutes sooner. Colorado still had trouble with Arizonas amoebic defence, though, going 10 of 29 from the floor in the first half. But the Buffaloes had something up their sleeve: A little defence of their own. Contesting shots and digging down on the post for steals, Colorado made life much more difficult than it had back in Boulder, allowing them to stay in the game. The Buffaloes held Arizona to 11-of-29 shooting and forced eight turnovers -- five by centre Kaleb Tarczewski -- that led to 11 points. Colorado held Arizona scoreless for over 4 minutes during a 10-2 run that helped the Buffaloes trim Arizonas nine-point lead to 27-24 at halftime. "I thought we stood a lot in the first half," McConnell said. The second half looked more like the game in Boulder. Arizona picked up the defensive intensity even more and started pouring out the highlights to extend the lead. Johnson had one, flying in for a reverse alley-oop dunk and Hollis-Jefferson matched him with a tomahawk dunk over Josh Scott. Gordon provided one on the defensive end not long after that, soaring up for a clean swat on Johnsons one-handed dunk attempt that sent Arizonas fans bursting out of their seats. In just a couple of minutes, the Wildcats were up 51-32 thanks to a 13-0 run, well on their way to the Pac-12 title game. "In the second half, we were sharper," Miller said. And seem to be peaking at just the right time. ' ' '