Stanford stops Wahine, 71-60
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
University of Hawai'i women's basketball coach Vince Goo said he wanted to play No. 7 Stanford in this weekend's Panda Travel Rainbow Wahine Classic, whether it was in yesterday's semifinals or today's championship.
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"It doesn't matter if it's Saturday or Sunday," Goo said. "What's important is (preparing for) those games in late February and early March."
Natasja Allen drives against Stanford's Enjoli Izidor in their semifinal game at the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
For the record, UH played the Cardinal yesterday and lost 71-60 at Stan Sheriff Center. But Goo liked much of what he saw, especially his team's 21-0 first-half run that turned a 28-9 deficit into a 30-28 lead.
Hawai'i (3-1) kept it close deep into the second half, until a 13-0 run by Stanford gave it a 63-50 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
Two free throws by Michelle Gabriel helped the Wahine to 65-59 with 2:02 left, but the Cardinal's Lauren St. Clair converted a UH turnover into an easy transition layup to make it 67-59 with 1:35 remaining, effectively sealing the game for Stanford (4-0).
"It takes a lot of energy to come back from being down 28-9, but more than the energy, it takes a lot of courage," Goo said. "You gotta hand that to our kids. I'm proud of the way they competed."
Early on, it looked as if the Cardinal would hand Hawai'i a lopsided defeat. Stanford sank 9 of its first 11 field goals in racing to an 18-3 lead in the game's first four minutes.
"I didn't think we were overmatched," UH forward Natasja Allen said, "but we did come out a little hesitant."
Jade Abele's 3-point play with 10:06 remaining in the half started Hawai'i's 21-0 run, during which Stanford missed eight shots in a row.
"We started out well, but Hawai'i didn't panic," Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. "They stayed with it."
Stanford finished the half with a 6-0 run to take a 36-32 lead at intermission. April Atuaia's free throw with 16:51 remaining gave the Wahine their final lead at 39-38, and UH fought back from a 50-45 deficit to tie it at 50 with 9:16 left.
The Cardinal began their 13-0 run shortly thereafter.
Allen said Stanford was just a notch better in the final stages, something she hopes UH can be against future opponents.
"They can finish at the end, and we need to get to that point where we can close games too," said Allen, who scored 12 points. "We have to learn from this. But we showed we can play with any team. We came back and were up at one point, so that has to say something."
VanDerveer said it does.
"Hawai'i's gonna have a really good year," she said. "They've got some nice players, a good inside-outside game and they're well-coached. This was a good challenge for us."
Lindsey Yamasaki led the Cardinal with 14 points. Christen Roper led UH with 13 points.
The loss puts the Wahine into today's 3:50 p.m. third-place game against Oklahoma State (3-2). The Cardinal will play Penn State (3-1) for the championship at 6 p.m.
• Penn State 73, Oklahoma State 54: Kelly Mazzante scored 25 points to lead the Nittany Lions to a semifinal victory. Tari Cummings scored 10 points for Oklahoma State.
• MINNESOTA 92, WYOMING 66: Lindsay Whalen scored 25 points, leading five players in double figures for the Gophers (3-1) in a consolation bracket victory. Darci Arsene led Wyoming (1-2) with 17 points.
• WEBER STATE 85, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 63: Stephanie Stanger scored 20 points and had nine assists to lead Weber State (3-1) to a consolation bracket victory.
Tamica Pierce led Florida Atlantic's Owls (0-2) with 27 points.
