Texas Tech hammers Rainbow Wahine, 67-40

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

For the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team, the holidays were anything but happy against 10th-ranked Texas Tech yesterday.

Hawai'i's April Atuaia is defended by Texas Tech's Jia Perkins in the paint during the championship game of the Ala Moana Hotel Paradise Classic. The 10th-ranked Lady Raiders handed Hawai'i its worst loss since Feb. 7, 2001. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

A crowd of 616 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Lady Raiders (7-1) overwhelm the Rainbow Wahine (6-3) with their swarming defense and reserve players.

The 27-point loss was Hawai'i's worst defeat since an 82-53 loss at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 7, 2001.

"We didn't come to play today," Hawai'i forward Natasja Allen said. "Nobody really stepped up at all."

In the third-place game, Miranda Warfield scored a game-high 16 points as Tennessee-Chattanooga rallied past Loyola Marymount, 59-52.

Texas Tech seized control of yesterday's game early and led by as many as 18 points in the first half (33-15) and 30 points in the second half (67-37).

Hawai'i closed to within 33-20 with 19:06 left in the second half, but couldn't stop Texas Tech's scoring parade. For the game, Texas Tech made 31 of 69 shots (45 percent), while Hawai'i converted 11 of 50 attempts (22 percent).

The Lady Raiders never panicked when two of their top players — forward Pierson and center Cisti Greenwalt — were forced to the bench in the first half when they ran into foul trouble. Pierson finished with 16 points in 14 minutes and Greenwalt finished with two points in 12 minutes, below their scoring averages of 18.1 and 10.1, respectively.

Texas Tech's reserve players picked up the slack and outscored Hawai'i's bench, 26-12 for the game.

"When we got in foul trouble, we had people who came off the bench and really helped us in every role," Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. "I'm really pleased with their effort. It's a great way to go home for Christmas."

Hawai'i failed to capitalize on Texas Tech's foul trouble in the first half, scoring just nine points with Pierson and Greenwalt out of the game in the final seven minutes.

During that span, the Rainbows repeatedly dumped the ball inside and drove hard to the basket, but they were foiled by Texas Tech's smothering defense.

"They're a very good defensive team," said Hawai'i coach Vince Goo, who called the Lady Raiders more talented than UH's two previous ranked opponents, North Carolina and Connecticut. "We had our chances to take them one-on-one, but they played very good team defense."

The Lady Raiders doubled down on Hawai'i's Christen Roper and forced the 6-foot-5 center to give up the ball. Roper finished with 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

"I thought we did a nice job of getting the help (defense) early," Sharp said. "(Roper) really had to become more of a passer than a shooter, or try to shoot it over a lot of hands. I thought it worked well for us.

"We have a lot of respect for Hawai'i," Sharp continued. "They played some really good basketball teams really close. We knew that we were in for a battle if we didn't play well."

Hawai'i's defeat overshadowed a great defensive effort by Roper who broke her own school record with eight blocked shots. Roper and Kim Ladner (1980) held the previous record with seven.

"It's just all timing," Roper said of the blocks. "Tonight I think I blocked everybody but (Greenwalt) who came inside on me."

Hawai'i placed two players on the all-tournament team — Jade Abele and Roper. Texas Tech's Perkins and Pierson, Loyola Marymount's Adrianne Slaughter and Tennessee-Chattanooga's Jennifer Wilson were the others. Pierson earned MVP honors.

Yesterday's game was Hawai'i's last game of the year. Hawai'i's next game will be Jan. 2 against UTEP in a Western Athletic Conference home game. The Rainbows expect to have All-American volleyball player Kim Willoughby for that game.

"She definitely adds some energy to our team," Roper said of Willoughby. "She can rebound. She jumps just as high as she jumps in volleyball, if not higher. She can go up and over people."

• Tennessee-Chattanooga 59, Loyola Marymount 52: Heather McDivitt scored 13 second-half points and Jennifer Wilson added 10 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the Lady Mocs (7-1) past the Lions (6-3) for third place.

Loyola Marymount led 26-19 at halftime, but was outscored 40-26 in the second half. Adrianne Slaughter led the Lions with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Warfield led the Lady Mocs with 16 points.

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