UH, Rice realize a lot on line today
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
TULSA, Okla. — On the eve of today's Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals, the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine were analytical enough to know Rice was the team they had to play, and human enough to admit it went beyond basketball analysis.
"We need to play them and beat them," UH freshman Chelsea Wagner said. "We don't need to play anybody else but them. We need to redeem ourselves and show we can beat them. We want it so bad. We want to get into the tournament so bad. It's desire and motivation and everything else. That's about all we can go on."
To get into the NCAA Tournament, Hawai'i has to beat Rice today (8 a.m., HST) at Reynolds Center. Hawai'i coach Vince Goo said that publicly yesterday and others in the WAC have said it in private. Many outside this poorly regarded conference believe two WAC teams in the NCAA Tournament is a long shot and three too much to ask. Since eighth-ranked Louisiana Tech is a lock, with or without the automatic berth that goes to tomorrow's tournament champion, that leaves little wiggle space.
The third-seeded Rainbow Wahine (22-6) and second-seeded Owls (21-7) are the only other WAC teams in the Top 100 of the various power ratings. Both hover in the mid-40's, a precarious number for a 64-team tournament with 33 at-large invitations and upset conference champions barging in daily.
Both come into today's semifinal on five-game win streaks traced directly to lethal defenses and virtually no star power. Rice has one starter (Kara Liggett) averaging more than 10 points while its bench provides 41 percent of the scoring. Natasja Allen and Janka Gabrielova —Êthe only all-conference player in today's game — are the only Rainbows averaging in double digits, but seven are scoring at least six points a game.
There, the similarities abruptly end. While the Rainbow Wahine have coasted through their season without any surprising wins or losses, Rice has three gaudy upsets of Top 25 teams and three ugly losses to teams below 100 in the power rankings. The last came at San Jose State on Valentine's Day.
Since Lindsay Maynard's last-second shot beat Hawai'i three days later, the Owls have been untouchable. No team has scored 60 points against them. Their victory over Louisiana Tech on Feb. 21 was one of the most shocking upsets of the year. Rice has cruised in its last three games.
"The win at Hawai'i definitely gave us a lot of motivation," said Jennifer Rigg, one of four Rice seniors, and one of eight who have transferred in the past five years. "Lindsay's bucket was absolutely huge because at that point and at this point every win really matters for us in terms of where we want to go in the postseason."
Hawai'i has lost five of the past six to Rice. The first came controversially in a WAC Tournament semifinal two years ago. The next three came in the Owls' Autry Court — with UH shooting 20 percent this year. The last left the Rainbow Wahine "heartbroken," according to Goo.
"A lot was riding on it," he said. "That could have been an NCAA Tournament game. I think it really was. Whoever won was going to be looking pretty good. We win that game, we've got three (WAC) losses and they have five. We would have been second all by ourself. We probably would have gone up a few RPI (Ratings Power Index) spots. It helped them go from 68 to 52. That's a huge jump."
Wednesday, the Rainbow Wahine watched the Owls overwhelm SMU in the first half of their quarterfinal. Liggett launched three 3-pointers in the first four minutes to kick-start Rice to a 48-27 halftime advantage. Hawai'i scored only 45 points its entire game against Nevada. The teams set a tournament record for fewest combined points (86).
"We need to box out and cut our turnovers," Gabrielova said then.
She paused, and started again. "Play harder, make our shots, crash the boards ... everything."
She was dead on. Other than a defense that has been beyond reproach, Hawai'i looked vulnerable Wednesday.
"At least we're not overweight," said Goo, trying to lighten the mood. "We can try to get prettier by Friday, but it's hard to lose a lot of pounds in two days."
It's hard to come back after heartbreaking losses, but his team has done it all season. Hawai'i has tunnel vision today. The focus is solely on putting the ball in the basket, and beating its nemesis.
"It's all offense," senior captain Karena Greeny said, "which is scary because we don't know how good we could be if our offense is flowing."
There is still time to find out.
OVER AND BACK: Hawai'i and Rice aren't the only teams with a history in today's semifinals. The first time Tulsa played Louisiana Tech this season, Tech All-American Ayana Walker was suspended for hitting Kim Chiconas with an elbow. The referees, who did not call a foul on the play, were also suspended. In the second game, Tech coach Leon Barmore fainted after a heated confrontation with game officials in the opening minutes. ... Tech is seeded No. 1 and plays fifth-seeded Tulsa at 10:30 a.m. HST. Today's winners meet at 9 a.m. HST tomorrow for the championship.
