UH takes big step to NCAA with easy win
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Hawai'i's Natasja Allen scores against Rice's Elisa Inman in the first half. The Wahine rolled over the Owls, 59-36.
David Crenshaw • Associated Press |
In a basketball game that soothed the University of Hawai'i's soul and greatly enhanced its NCAA Tournament chances, the Rainbow Wahine ran over Rice, 59-36, yesterday in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal at Reynolds Center. It puts Hawai'i (23-6) in its second championship game in as many years today against top-seeded — and eighth-ranked — Louisiana Tech, a 57-42 winner over Tulsa.
"Please don't spoil my day and ask me about tomorrow," UH coach Vince Goo said. "Let us enjoy this one a little while."
It was two years in the making, but the third-seeded Rainbow Wahine got it dead solid perfect with a defense that suffocated the Owls into a tournament record for fewest points. This came two days after Hawai'i's 45-41 quarterfinal set a record for fewest points by both teams.
"I would think 45-41 the other night got a little snicker from the NCAA committee," Goo said. "But tonight, giving up only 36 points, they might start thinking they're looking at a pretty good defensive team."
Second-seeded Rice (21-8), which came into the semifinal with a five-game winning streak, is a believer. It had defeated the Rainbows in five of their past six meetings. That included both games this season and a controversial WAC Tournament semifinal two years ago.
That loss, which probably kept UH out of the 2000 NCAA Tournament, is now ancient history. After yesterday, this season's crushing losses — UH shot 20 percent at Rice and fell in the final second at home — were paid back in full. The Rainbows made their run in the final six minutes of the first half and the Owls blinked big time, never to hoot again.
Rice shot just 22 percent for the game and was 1-for-18 behind the arc. Its only 3-pointer came in the final minute and followed a succession of clanks interspersed with air balls.
"Shooting has been an Achilles' heel all season and it bit us in the butt again," coach Cristy McKinney said. "Every time we'd miss, instead of being more patient we'd get in a hurry and start rushing.
"They won this thing on the defensive end. We gave up 57 points. It's not like we let them run rampant, but we were just so bad offensively."
The epidemic started early and intensified as Hawai'i's beleaguered offense found a pulse and rode the wave.
The Rainbow Wahine broke away in the final six minutes of the first half and relentlessly shut Rice down in the second, extending their advantage to a game-high 29 (51-22) with 8:30 left. When they stuffed the Owls' initial attempt to rally in the second half, extending their advantage to 45-19 at the first time out, they received a standing ovation from their small crowd.
Early on, center Christen Roper hurt the Owls inside. Her left-handed hook gave her eight points and put the Rainbow Wahine ahead 12-7 with 12:14 showing in the first half. Two minutes later, Roper got her second foul — a call the Hawai'i bench disagreed with loudly — and went out.
From there, senior point guard Janka Gabrielova put the offense on her tiny shoulders. She scored her first basket with 6:06 left in the half, weaving through the entire Owl defense for a layup to put the Rainbows ahead 20-15. After a Rice turnover, Gabrielova hit two free throws.
Kara Liggett got a shot to drop from outside with 5:20 showing to make it 22-17. It was the Owls' last score of the half.
Gabrielova came right back with Hawai'i's first 3-pointer. When the Owls threw the ball away, they called time to regroup. It didn't work.
Hawai'i scored the next 10 points to open a 35-17 advantage at halftime. Karena Greeny — UH's other senior — got the first four. The Rainbow Wahine then converted on three successive Rice turnovers, with Natasja Allen, Gabrielova and Greeny scoring inside.
"The first two times we played them we wanted to get the ball inside, but we shied away from their posts," Greeny said. "Their players are athletic and when the guards went inside they were afraid of getting blocked. Today, we all got in the offense. That was the bottom line."
The Owls' final shots of the half were long-range jumpers, and a harbinger of the half to come. The first stuck between the backboard and rim. The second missed everything. They were 5-for-25 in the half, missing all eight 3-pointers, with 11 turnovers. The Rainbows also out-rebounded Rice, 23-15, in the half.
The surge was so sweet, Hawai'i floated into the locker room at the half and tried to bring itself down to earth.
"I told them, 'If you play not to lose, you probably will,' " Goo said. "We were up 35-17, it's pretty tough. You just put the ball in the players' hands."
Rice never got closer than 17 in the second half as Hawai'i's reserves fed the fire and allowed the starters a long and surprising rest. Panic set in early in the second half for the Owls, whose rally never materialized when they hit just 2 of their first 20 shots.
"We never had the right kind of panic," Liggett said. "They were playing really well and we weren't doing anything especially well and you need a sense of urgency. We never had that."
Added Gabrielova: "I thought they would come out hard and pressure us and try to come back, but they were just shooting 3's. They didn't have good offense. I was surprised that they played so sloppy second half."
Greeny (12 points), Gabrielova (11) and Roper (10) led the UH offense, which tried to force the tempo more than it had previously. Rice couldn't cope, or come close.
"This was the first game in a long time where we got balanced scoring and defense," Greeny said. "The team had so much desire. Instead of starting to turn the ball over and rushing, today everybody jumped in and we really got some confidence."
By the end, Rice's confidence was shot. Its starters were 5-for-29 for 16 points. Without reserve Johnetta Hayes (14 points, 10 rebounds), the Owls would have shot 15 percent and nearly been doubled up on the boards.
"We picked a bad time to play really, really badly," McKinney said. "I give Hawai'i a lot of credit because they really attacked us and came at us. They played harder than we did, seemed to want the game more."
They had waited a long time.
OVER AND BACK: San Diego State held the previous record for fewest points in a WAC Tournament game, scoring 38 in 1993. ... UH lost to TCU in last year's WAC Tournament championship and did not receive an NCAA invitation. ... Louisiana Tech (24-4) shot just 32 percent in its victory, but held Tulsa (17-13) to 28 percent. ... Tech out-rebounded Tulsa 47-35, getting 15 offensive boards. Today's WAC final between Louisiana Tech and Hawai'i will be broadcast live at 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Net West. The game will be rebroadcast at 7 p.m. on OC-16.
