Wahine triumph at Tulsa

Advertiser Staff

Thursday, the University of Hawai'i Wahine scored just 10 baskets in one of their worst offensive games ever. They over-compensated yesterday, raining 3-pointers on Tulsa in a sizzling first half and rolling to a 65-51 Western Athletic Conference win at Reynolds Center.

Christa Brossman's 3-pointer midway through the first half was the Wahine's 11th basket — one more than Thursday — and put them ahead 27-12. Hawai'i's advantage grew to 22 (36-14) when freshman Chelsea Wagner drained her third 3-pointer soon after.

By halftime, the Wahine led 42-23. They were hitting 55 percent of their shots (16-29), including 7-of-9 from outside the arc.

"The two keys we put on the board before the game were penetrate with the dribble on balance and take shots on balance," UH coach Vince Goo said. "It looked like we were going three-quarter speed but we weren't. We were just on balance. We had a lot more body control."

In contrast, Hawai'i shot 20 percent Thursday at Rice, was shut out behind the arc, missed 15 free throws and scored just 43 points all night.

"What happened Thursday was probably 99 percent of what happened today," Goo said. "When you play a good game, you can't wait for the next game. When you have a poor game, it can go either way. It was a good sign they couldn't wait to play again."

Hawai'i outscored Tulsa 9-2 to start the second half, breaking ahead 51-25, and cruised home. The Golden Hurricane never got closer than 14. It connected on just 32 percent of its shots and was out-rebounded 44-30.

Tulsa (10-7) started this week with a school-record six-game winning streak and was unbeaten in the WAC. It is now 5-2. Hawai'i (11-4), which plays host to Nevada Thursday, is 4-2.

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