Wahine run past Nevada, 73-53

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Making good on a first-half threat to leave Nevada in the dust, the University of Hawai'i Wahine accelerated in the second half last night to win, 73-53, before 731 at Stan Sheriff Center.

The victory lifted Hawai'i (12-4) over Tulsa into third place in the Western Athletic Conference basketball standings, at 5-2. Nevada (6-11) fell to 3-5. The Wolf Pack, which starts all upperclassmen, is 1-7 on the road this season.

Its shooting percentage, in the final 16 minutes of the first half and the first part of the second, was nearly that bad. The Wahine, second in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, were holding teams to .336 shooting going into last night. Nevada shot .329.

"The one thing that has hurt us has been our shooting," Wolf Pack coach Ada Gee said. "We have not shot the ball well all year. Tonight we knew we had to shoot the ball well and we had to keep Hawai'i from shooting the ball well. If we held them to 60 points, we felt we had an opportunity to win the game."

Gee was prophetic. The Wahine hit 60 on Natasja Allen's putback with 8:40 remaining. Nevada never did.

Allen's bucket — she would finish with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting — concluded a breathtaking start to the second half that began, ironically, with two blown layups.

Nevada scored the first basket of the half to cut its deficit to 33-24, then watched point guard Janka Gabrielova spark a Wahine scoring binge with the first of four consecutive 3-pointers. Gabrielova hit almost nothing (1-of-5) in the first half, and was only a little better before the game.

"After the first half I didn't even think of shooting," Gabrielova said. "I knew that before the game I couldn't make anything. I thought I wouldn't shoot today. I was concentrating more on penetrating. Then they went into a zone and I hit one, then I hit the second one, then I felt kinda like I can shoot today. I was going ... whew."

Suddenly, the Wahine were in THE zone, as they had been Saturday at Tulsa. Nevada scored on its next possession, but Hawai'i took over in the next nine minutes, outscoring the Wolf Pack 23-8.

Karena Greeny ignited the run with a three-point play. Christen Roper followed with two baskets inside and Allen added another. Then Gabrielova popped in two more from behind the arc, putting Hawai'i ahead 51-30 and prompting a Nevada timeout to switch from its zone.

The Wolf Pack got the first two baskets out of the break, but the Wahine scored the next eight points on two Gabrielova assists and her fourth straight 3-pointer. The assists went inside to Roper and Kim Willoughby, who converted a 3-point play. Nevada never came close again.

"We had our moments," UH coach Vince Goo said. "The good thing was to have the players come out at halftime and continue to play well. That's mostly focus, concentration. They've been good at that for awhile. We've grown up a lot.

"Tulsa and tonight, it shows we can do it on the road and do it at home. They were really unselfish. Not that they ever were, but I think it was quite evident tonight."

Both teams started the game hot, sprinting through a sizzling first four minutes that left the game tied at 10. Allen had six of Hawai'i's points, and Katie Golomb six of the Wolf Pack's. They were guarding each other.

When the Wahine came out of the first timeout, the 6-foot-5 Roper took Golomb and stuffed her inside; Golomb had five points the rest of the night. Allen, much more agile than Roper, moved to Nevada All-American Katie Smith, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting.