By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
TULSA, Okla. — A year ago, the University of Hawai‘i Wahine had their hearts broken in the Williams WAC Tournament semifinals. Yesterday, they just had heart.
The Wahine (23-6) chased Southern Methodist (17-12) for 38 minutes, then blew by in overtime to win, 97-88, before 1,756 at Reynolds Center. They play Texas Christian today in the first WAC championship basketball game for either team.
Hawai‘i was denied the final last year when it lost to Rice on a controversial call in the waning seconds.
"I know that we had to live a whole year, through today, with that game from last year," UH coach Vince Goo said. "I don’t think any of the returning players or the coaches wanted to live through another year with that."
They won’t have to, thanks to a huge second half from Dainora Puida and Crystal Lee, and a resilient effort by a team that got gritty plays from everyone it turned to. And the Wahine turned to everyone.
The second half featured eight ties. Hawai‘i grabbed its first lead, at 73-72 with 1:22 left, on two of Puida’s 23 second-half points. After SMU tied it with a free throw, Puida scored on a putback with :46 showing. WAC Player of the Year D-dra Rucker tied it again on a drive and UH took time with :29 remaining.
Lee, who had 19 second-half points, tried to take the ball inside. She was denied and kicked it out to Janka Gabrielova, but Rucker flicked the ball and scored on a breakaway with :08.1 showing. Gabrielova got the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and dropped in a 10-foot runner to tie it at 77 with :02.2 to go.
"You score with 8.1 seconds to go and you still don’t have time to celebrate," SMU coach Rhonda Rhompola said. "Janka came back and I felt we played good defense. We didn’t foul. We played the defense I’d like to see us play. She just made a great shot. She’s the hero, saved their season. That’s the only shot she made that half."
Kacie Alexander’s half-court prayer hit the front rim as time ran out. SMU’s time ran out in the five-minute overtime. The Wahine dominated, with Puida possessed inside and her teammates cleaning up the free throw mess eight SMU fouls created.
Hawai‘i outscored the Mustangs 26-8 on the foul line in the game. It hit 67 percent of its field-goal attempts in the second half, and out-rebounded SMU 30-19, with Puida grabbing 13.
"She’s been virtually unstoppable the last two games," Lee said.
Puida set a career high for points (25) — for the second straight game — and rebounds (16). "I was going after offensive rebounds very hard and that paid off," Puida said. "That’s what post players are supposed to do.
"It’s crunch time. Everyone knows every game can be our last one. Everyone tries extra hard and we showed a lot of heart today. We wanted to win so bad."
Yesterday’s victory set up a final between the top two seeds and, if Goo is right, the conference’s NCAA Tournament entries. The way the Wahine reached the final allowed them to dry year-old tears.
SMU led from the moment Rucker made the game’s first basket. That early, it was apparent this would be nothing like the regular season, when the Wahine swept the Mustangs easily, stifling them into 29 percent shooting.
Less than three minutes into the game, Rucker went out with her second foul. Led by four freshmen, SMU, which has started a dozen lineups this season, seized control.
With Lee oh-for-the-first-half, the Wahine struggled to stay close. Kylie Galloway and Gabrielova provided enough offense to cut a nine-point Mustang advantage to six (34-28) at the break.
Before the second half, Lee walked over to Goo and whispered in his ear.
"I said, ‘I’m going to fix it. I don’t want my career to end on a note like this,’ " Lee recalled. "He gave me a blank stare like don’t tell me, show me."
Lee promptly missed her first two second-half shots, from point-blank range. She took a deep breath and nailed her next six from over, under and around the flailing Mustangs.
"She had a huge second half," Goo said, then grinned. "I was about to call her a liar, but we had confidence in her."
Goo said his team was so focused, he had to do little coaching in the second half — "just a lot of reminding." When it was finally over, he took a deep breath.
"The memory goes, but that’s got to be one of the best games," Goo said. "The kids went out in the second half and performed. They defended and they answered. It was a great game. It was one of those games where you don’t try to over-coach.
"I don’t know about SMU, but what won it for us was heart. That simple. Heart and determination."
OVER AND BACK: Fox Sports West 2 (Oceanic Cable 24, digital 228) will televise today’s women’ championship live on a regional basis, beginning at 8:30 a.m. HST. Fox Sports West (Oceanic Cable 21) will show the men’s final nationally at 5 p.m. HST. . . . Hawai‘i and SMU’s combined total of 185 points set a single-game tournament record. In the first 10 years of the WAC Women’s Tournament, the high was 161 (1995). . . . This was the second overtime game in women’s tournament history — both this week. . . . The Wahine are now 5-4 in the WAC Tournament. . . . The top seed has reached nine of the previous 10 WAC Women’s Tournament finals, and won four times. . . . Hawai‘i is the only school here without its band and cheerleaders. Athletic director Hugh Yoshida said it was too expensive to bring both groups. . . . Janka Gabrielova played all but the final :12 for Hawai‘i yesterday. Crystal Lee went 44 minutes and Kylie Galloway 43.
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