Wahine win at SMU, 60-53

Advertiser Staff

With a closing push in the final five minutes of a harsh road trip, the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine blew by Southern Methodist, 60-53, in Dallas yesterday. SMU didn't score in the last five minutes.

UH (16-5) finished its Western Athletic Conference basketball trip 3-1. Yesterday's victory, before 748 at Moody Coliseum, left Hawai'i at 9-3 in the WAC — a half-game behind Tulsa and Rice, who share second. UH plays host to Tulsa Thursday night and Rice next Sunday afternoon.

"We talked about that before the game," UH coach Vince Goo said. "We have seven games left. If we win all seven, we'll be second. If we get past Tulsa and Rice this week, we're in pretty good position."

It took a gritty effort yesterday to earn that opportunity. In the first half, Hawai'i went scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. It trailed 28-22 at the break.

But after hitting the wall, the Rainbows vaulted over it in the second half.

With Janka Gabrielova and reserve Kim Willoughby switching the offense into high gear, the Rainbows ran on SMU (9-14, 4-9) at every second-half opportunity. Gabrielova's 3-pointer gave Hawai'i its first advantage in nearly 25 minutes, at 43-42 with 10:55 to go. The teams traded the lead six times and were tied at 53 when UH grabbed the game by the throat.

"At the timeout it was tied (51-51)," Goo recalled. "We told the players 'It's a 5 1/2-minute game. Let's see what we've got left.' We talked about all the things we went through on the road — the ugly travel, four games in eight days, cold weather, being away such a long time. They were not going to have any excuses. They just gutted it out at the end."

Karena Greeny had her third double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Gabrielova scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half.

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