 NCAA women's championship bracket
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Once again, the Big Dance was not quite big enough for the University of Hawai‘i Wahine. They will throw their own basketball party instead.
The 23-7 Wahine were not invited to the 64-team NCAA Tournament yesterday. For the second straight year, they accepted a bid to the 32-team Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
They play Santa Clara (20-7) Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center, in their postseason home debut. UH will announce ticket information and a starting time today. Thursday’s winner gets Brigham Young or Oregon State this weekend. No site or date is set for the second round.
By the look on UH coach Vince Goo’s face yesterday and the tone in Texas Christian coach Jeff Mittie’s voice Saturday, it was clear the NCAA’s latest slap at the WAC was no surprise.
After Hawai‘i couldn’t catch TCU in the WAC Tournament championship, Mittie presented an extended case for the Wahine’s inclusion as an at-large selection to the NCAAs.
But as he was leaving, he suddenly dropped his head and whispered, "You know, they just have so little respect for this conference."
Goo spent yesterday morning analyzing power ratings. His mood was anything but upbeat — for good reason.
"For the WAC to get only one team in is a travesty," he said. "It’s ridiculous."
Goo, whose 28-4 team was left out in 1993, was particularly incensed because the WAC hired a consultant last year to try and help its teams become more visible.
"He came to Hawai‘i and watched us practice for 10 minutes one day and 20 minutes another," Goo said. "I was in Tulsa seven days and I saw him, he saw me, and he never talked to me. The guy is supposed to be helping us with WAC basketball. How can the WAC get one team in the NCAA tournament?"
Goo said he felt especially bad for seniors Kylie Galloway, Crystal Lee and Dainora Puida, but the disappointment was tempered by the unexpected opportunity to play at home.
"When I heard, it was the first time I ever thought of that," Goo said. "It says a lot for our administration and the backing of our program. We didn’t want to get on another plane."
UH put in the bid last week. Goo said it would bid again if the Wahine beat Santa Clara.
Before Saturday’s loss, Hawai‘i’s RPI (rating percentage index) was 52 in Collegiate Basketball News (CBN), which publishes an "independent duplication of the RPI without input from the NCAA." The NCAA does not release its RPI to the public.
The CBN’s RPI is composed of winning percentage against Division I schools (25 percent), schedule strength (50 percent) and opponent’s schedule strength (25 percent). The Wahine’s strength-of-schedule ranking was only 147, though the TCU result should improve that; only one team in front of them (No. 50 Drake at 190) had a weaker number and all but five were in double digits.
In Hawai‘i’s favor was a 9-2 record outside the conference, a 7-2 road record, and a 7-3 finish.
The Wahine losses came by an average of five points. Most could be traced to a first half of offensive futility. In their three tournament games, the Wahine averaged 25 points in the first half, and shot 27 percent.
Yet they reached their first WAC final — winning two games and nearly chasing down TCU in the third — by shooting 56 percent in the second half. Goo’s team is as erratic as it is unimposing, but it has been in every game because its defense never lets up, and neither does its players.
"I knew we had heart," Goo said. "I don’t think any of this was unexpected because we’ve been on the road and played well. Maybe this was reinforcement. That’s why I can be so calm on the bench. We have a lot of confidence in the kids. They go hard.
"Teams are made up of individuals. We’ve got returnees this year · Dainora is a lot better this year and Crystal got a LOT better. Kylie has been herself. And the newcomers like April (Atuaia) and Christa (Brossman) add a lot to it. They are in the same mold as far as work ethic and dedication.
"If you have two or three who are not on the same program, it hurts the team chemistry. But on this team, the younger ones look at the older ones and know they can rely on them. And the older ones look at the younger ones and they have proven they belong. So there is a mutual feeling between them and that’s what makes for good team chemistry."
And now, after all these years, there is home cooking in March.
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