Goo wonders which Wahine team will show up
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
A day after basketball disaster at Rice a week ago, University of Hawai'i coach Vince Goo looked his Wahine in the eye and tried to put what he called the "worst game" in his 15 years behind.
"You shot 25 percent in the first half and 15 percent in the second," Goo told his players. "It's a good thing we don't have a third half or we would have really been bad."
The Wahine responded by shooting 60 percent in the first half Saturday at Tulsa — hitting seven consecutive 3-pointers at one stage — and pulling into fourth place in the Western Athletic Conference.
There is an opportunity to move up this week at Stan Sheriff Center. The Wahine (11-4, 4-2 WAC) play Nevada (6-10, 3-4) tomorrow and Fresno State (8-9, 3-4) Saturday.
"We might play like we did against Rice, or like we did against Tulsa," Goo said. "We play young sometimes. We really gutted it out against Tulsa. I think we had four fans — the Ropers."
Christen Roper, Hawai'i's 6-foot-5 center, was a large part of the victory at Tulsa, holding Alyssa Shriver, the Golden Hurricane's 6-foot-3 center, to 1-for-10 shooting and no rebounds. At the time, Shriver was the WAC Player of the Week.
It was one of the best games of Hawai'i's season, following its absolute worst. It ended a week when Goo earned a better understanding of his team's drastically different game faces.
His second unit is made up of junior point guard Michelle Gabriel, sophomore Christa Brossman and freshmen Chelsea Wagner, Jade Abele and Kim Willoughby. It is one of the most prolific benches in Goo's history, averaging more than 20 points and 14 rebounds a game. Each player puts in 10 minutes-plus.
It is also remarkably inexperienced. "They all perform really well," Goo says. "We'll make young mistakes, but one thing I told them is not to make the same mistakes again. If we do that, we're not getting better."
Nevada is getting better. Last week, it won consecutive games for the first time in two months. Point guard Laura Ingham, a transfer from Ohio State, is this week's WAC Player of the Week, after setting a conference record against UTEP with 17 assists. She leads the WAC in assists, and junior All-American Kate Smith is fifth in scoring (14.8 points).
Fresno State is coming off a 93-63 victory over UTEP — its highest point total in Britt King's three years as coach. 'Aiea graduate Aritta Lane, a legitimate candidate for WAC Freshman of the Year, was one of five Bulldogs who had career-high point totals (20).
Lane, recruited by UH volleyball coach Dave Shoji, is averaging 8.5 rebounds — third in the WAC — and 10 points as a starter. She has three all-conference teammates around her, the most prominent being point guard Lindsay Logan, who is second in WAC scoring (16.8).
It will be a hectic week for the Wahine, particularly point guard Janka Gabrielova. But Hawai'i is hardly an underdog in this year of living erratically in the WAC.
Its power rating this week hovers in the low 40's, while Nevada is around 150. Fresno State, which allowed Boise State to get its first WAC win last week in Fresno, is at 200. Both teams are 1-6 on the road. The Bulldogs haven't won in Hawai'i in nearly 11 years, and have lost to the Wahine the last 12 times the teams have met. Nevada is allowing 74 points a game — 16 more than UH.
These teams are separated by less than two games in the conference standings. After ninth-ranked Louisiana Tech, every other standing is up for grabs.
"Anybody can beat anybody else except Louisiana Tech," Goo said. "They are the best, but it can be anybody after that."
OVER AND BACK: Saturday's game is Senior Night, with fans 55 and older getting in at half price. ... UH junior Christen Roper is fifth nationally in blocks, averaging 3.3 a game. ... Hawai'i moved up to second in the country in field-goal percentage defense (33.6), behind top-ranked Connecticut. ... Hawai'i received four points in this week's USA Today/ESPN poll. ... After Louisiana Tech, Hawai'i and Rice, who all have power ratings in the Top 50, no WAC team is better than 115 (Tulsa). ... The Wahine have made more free throws (255) than opponents have attempted (203). ... After this homestand, UH goes on a two-week road trip to San Jose State (Feb. 2), UTEP (Feb. 4), Louisiana Tech (Feb. 7) and SMU (Feb. 9.) Its next home game is Valentine's Day, against Tulsa. ...
The 2002 Williams WAC Basketball Tournament will be March 5-9 at Tulsa's Reynolds Center. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Tulsa Sports Commission (918-560-0246). Tickets are priced as all-session passes only, at $125. Premium tickets that include a parking pass and center court seating are also available for $350. Single-session tickets go on sale Monday, March 4, if the tournament is not sold out. The championship games will be Saturday, March 9, with the women playing at 1 p.m. and the men at 8 p.m. The women's championship game will be telecast live by Fox Sports Net Southwest. The men's championship game will be telecast live by ESPN2. Both Hawai'i teams will stay at DoubleTree Warren Place (918-495-1000) for the tournament. A block of rooms has been reserved for fans.
