Wahine edge Oklahoma State, 52-51, to reach WNIT final four
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Rising from the basketball dead yet once more, the University of Hawai'i Wahine willed their way into the Women's National Invitation Tournament final four last night.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
After trailing nearly the entire game, the Wahine extended what has suddenly morphed into a magical season by holding Oklahoma State to one point in the final 6:29. Hawai'i won the quarterfinal, 52-51, and will play New Mexico Saturday, at The Pit in Albuquerque, at 4 p.m. HST.
Hawai'i's Dainora Puida, left, and teammate Crystal Lee scrambled with Oklahoma State's Kara Faulk for a loose ball in the first half of last night's WNIT quarterfinal game.
That winner advances to the WNIT championship game.
Hawai'i left an enthralled crowd of 4,279 screaming on its feet last night at Stan Sheriff Center. The fans, who helped the Wahine draw their largest crowd of the season for the fourth consecutive game, soon became part of the celebration.
In a rare public display, UH coach Vince Goo grabbed the microphone and thanked the band, the cheerleaders, the administrators who made it possible for his team to host its first postseason games, and the delirious crowd.
"The crowd had an effect in the Santa Clara game," Goo said. "It had a huge effect against BYU (in an overtime victory Monday). And, I don't think you could measure its effect tonight. I don't think the kids wanted to let the fans down.
"We've said please a lot over the last two weeks and people showed up. It was time to say thank you."
Hawai'i (26-7) shot a sub-30 percentage in the first half, yet managed a 26-all halftime tie. It trailed 50-44 with 6:29 to go, yet found a way to win, forcing the Cowgirls (16-15) to miss their last 10 shots.
"I feel like we're a rabbit and somebody is dangling a carrot in front of us," said UH senior Crystal Lee. "We go after it and after it and finally at the end we always grab it."
Lee started the latest, greatest comeback with a free throw to cut the deficit to 50-45. The Cowgirls missed.
UH point guard Janka Gabrielova pushed the ball downcourt on a fast break and pulled up to hit a 3-pointer, in a scene reminiscent of her heroics Monday against BYU.
The teams shared misses — UH suffocated OSU into 28-percent shooting in the second half — for the next three minutes. Finally, Christen Roper's putback tied the game at 50 with 1:48 showing.
Freshman Trisha Skibbe, who scored a season-high 17 points and put her first two collegiate 3-pointers in the Wahine's face in the first half, missed on the Cowgirls' next possession.
UH freshman April Atuaia took the ball inside and was fouled. After a timeout with 1:17 to go, Atuaia dropped two free throws to make it 52-50. UH put 6-foot-4 Dainora Puida back in the game to complement the 6-5 Roper.
It was just enough for Hawai'i, which has never before pushed this far into the postseason.
Oklahoma State point guard Chantoya Hawkins drove inside and missed, but OSU grabbed the rebound. Hawkins put her head down and drove again. She was fouled, giving the Cowgirls another 30 seconds, with :54 left.
Skibbe was fouled and missed the first free throw, then made the second, with :50 remaining.
The Wahine brought the ball up slowly, called time and Gabrielova missed a shot with :19 left. OSU brought the ball the other way, only to miss twice inside trying to avoid a sea of sky-high arms.
"It was exactly what we wanted to do," OSU coach Dick Halterman said. "We tried to post Skibbe inside, got her the ball right where she wanted and ... it was a very physical game, there was a lot of contact, you can't fault her for missing it. But she went up, took a pretty good look at it, it didn't go. Shelby (Hutchens) ends up with the rebound and hers doesn't go."
Lee came out of the crowd with the rebound and the Wahine played keep-away for the final five seconds of Oklahoma State's season.
The crowd volume rose to a climax and the celebration began.
"In the last three weeks — our game at TCU to try and win the conference, then come back home and go back to the WAC Tournament, then last week and this week, I think this team played on heart and adrenaline," Goo said. "At halftime today I thought maybe our adrenaline tank was running out. I think it is, but that's how strong heart can be. They kicked it in the last six minutes of that ballgame.
"You need to appreciate Oklahoma State because they came to play just as hard as BYU came to play two nights ago. When you have two teams wanting to win so badly that's the kind of ballgame you have. I congratulate them, but at the same time, you can't help but really love our kids."
OVER AND BACK: New Mexico defeated Alabama-Birmingham, 77-55, last night in Albuquerque. It was the largest margin of victory in this tournament, with the exception of the Lobos' 72-49 win over Houston in the first round. ... UNM is averaging more than 8,400 fans in its games at The Pit. ... James Madison is playing at Ohio State Sunday in the other semifinal. ... Wahine sophomore Christen Roper set a WAC record for blocks in a season. With six last night, she has 93. ... Oklahoma State finished eighth in the Big 12. The first seven went to the NCAA Tournament. ... OSU held Hawai'i to its lowest point total of the season.
