By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Road trips have been transformed into pleasure trips by the University of Hawai‘i Wahine this Western Athletic Conference basketball season.
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| Crystal Lee said winning will help seedings for the WAC tournament.
Advertiser library photo |
"We’re 4-2 at home and 4-0 on the road," coach Vince Goo said. "I told them we’ve got to win our home games or we’re going to go on the road and never come back. They know I’m joking, but hey, we might just do that."
He will reassess in two weeks. The Wahine (18-4) take their 9-2 conference record to Southern Methodist tomorrow and Rice Sunday. They are scheduled to return at noon Monday, then leave next Thursday to play at San Jose State and WAC leader Texas Christian.
It is a schedule made in frequent-flier heaven, but a coach’s nightmare. Goo is sleeping soundly, for now.
His team is receiving votes in both polls, and a good week in Texas should catapult Hawai‘i into the 40s in the power indexes. The Wahine have more depth than they have had in nearly a decade, a defense stifling opponents better than all but two teams in the country and have proven they can shoot teams down from the foul line as well on the road as at home.
To say nothing of a six-game win streak, serious study habits and a precocious personality.
"Thus far, this has been a real good travel team," Goo said. "If we need to leave at 5:30 to go to a game, we end up leaving at 5:20. They are all there, so we go. They are very punctual, very well-mannered, really responsible. So far."
How far should be answered soon. SMU is in third place, 1 1/2 games behind Hawai‘i, while Rice is fifth. The Wahine lost at both places last year. Next weekend, the Wahine take on the only two WAC teams to beat them.
"Nothing we’ve done up to this point really matters," UH senior Crystal Lee said. "These games are really important as far as seeding at the WAC Tournament. And if we don’t win the WAC Tournament, our season is pretty much terminated. It’s all about seeding now."
Depth and defense have been at the heart of Hawai‘i’s longest surge this season.
In the past six games, leading scorer Kylie Galloway is averaging just 10 points ö five below her average. She, Lee and point guard Janka Gabrielova are the only Wahine playing more than 26 minutes a game; eight are averaging at least 10 minutes. Christen Roper and Dainora Puida are splitting the center position almost exactly in half, and combining for 16 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks a game.
"We have spurts when we’re playing the best we can play," Lee said. "We’re getting a lot off the bench and you can’t say that about a lot of teams. We have a lot of depth and it’s good for morale ö good for the people on the bench getting playing time and good for the people that typically get a lot of minutes to have them rest, as well."
UH remains third in the country in field goal percentage defense (34.1) and has risen to 11th in scoring defense (57.2). It is also outscoring opponents 404-189 from the foul line, a trend that continues on the road (69-32).
OVER AND BACK: Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on KCCN (1420 AM). Tomorrow’s game begins at 2:45 p.m. and Sunday’s at 9:45 a.m. ... Former Wahine Dana (Takahara) Dias and husband Roy welcomed their first child Saturday, Hunter. Dias is a special education teacher at Moanalua High School, where she coaches girls basketball. ... Crystal Lee is averaging 7.2 rebounds in WAC games ö three more than outside the conference.
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