Rainbows anxious to avenge worst loss of year
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Precisely a month ago, the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine watched their offense implode in the "Jungle Gym" ambience of 52-year-old Autry Court. Rice's defense has that effect on basketball teams.
The 20-percent shooting performance was a record for futility. The 57-43 loss drop-kicked the Rainbows down to fifth place in the Western Athletic Conference.
Hawai'i is second — a half-game ahead of the Owls — going into today's rematch at 2 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Rice (16-7, 10-4 WAC) is coming off a 67-64 loss at San Jose State. It didn't score in the final 3:31.
That is nothing compared to how the Owls smothered Hawai'i (17-5, 10-3) in Houston. UH players have relived, in gruesome detail, every minute of that game.
"They have known Rice is on the horizon," UH coach Vince Goo said. "They have been waiting for this game for a while because they played so poorly."
It was Hawai'i's only loss to an unranked team this season. It has never won at Autry, while the Owls have never won here. And this Rice team has struggled on the road.
Two days after upsetting defending national champion Notre Dame to close the preseason, the Owls lost in OT at Tulsa. They followed a seven-game winning streak by losing at Louisiana Tech and Nevada.
They are shooting just 34 percent on the road, where they are 7-6. But they shot 30 percent against Hawai'i at home and still won easily.
"It was hard to watch," Goo said. "I wish I didn't have to be there."
The Rainbows had but 10 baskets. They took 37 free throws — to Rice's 22 — but missed 15. They turned the ball over 21 times. They were awful.
"They made us shoot off-balance," Goo said. "Nobody had any kind of balance the whole ballgame."
Rice coach Cristy McKinney called it her team's best and most intense performance, and maybe its last good performance.
"We're just not a very good basketball team right now," she said. "We're not playing well. We didn't play hard against San Jose, didn't come ready for whatever reason.
"We haven't improved in the last month. A month ago what helped us is we were playing very hard and playing very good defense. I don't know that we're doing those things as well now. We have to make up our mind we want to do it."
Like Tulsa, the team UH beat Thursday, Rice is balanced. It gets 40 percent of its scoring from the bench. Only Kara Liggett averages more than 10 points.
Reserve Johnetta Hayes, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Oklahoma, had six blocks against Hawai'i. She is sixth in conference rebounding, just ahead of Rainbow Christen Roper and Daneesh McIntosh, the Owls' only starting senior. Elisa Inman, a 6-2 transfer from Purdue, is now starting and gives Rice another perimeter threat.
"Rice is so much better balanced than Tulsa," Goo said. "People can come off the bench and do harm."
UH freshman Chelsea Wagner has come off the bench to give the Rainbow Wahine a huge lift since April Atuaia suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament Jan. 26. Wagner scored 21 points Thursday, her third career high in five starts. She also instigated a 10-0 run that clinched the game for the Rainbows, passing to Karena Greeny for the first basket and scoring the next eight points.
OVER AND BACK: Rice assistant coach Marla Brumfield was a four-time all-WAC player for the Owls, and the first WAC player to be drafted by the WNBA. She plays for the Miami SOL. ... Tulsa senior Leela Farr got into early foul trouble and was held to 12 points by Hawai'i Thursday. She still became the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 points. ... The Rainbow Wahine tied a season high against Tulsa with nine steals. ... Hawai'i rose to No. 39 (from 42) in the CollegeRPI.com power rankings after the Tulsa victory. Rice dropped to 68 (from 60) after losing at San Jose State. ... The Owls are fourth in the WAC in field-goal percentage defense (.378), but 36th nationally. Louisiana Tech and Hawai'i are among the Top 10.
