Wahine players show emotions after 53-50 loss
| • | Wahine basketball team holding out hope for NCAA berth |
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
TULSA, Okla. — Coming close against the eighth-ranked basketball team in the country was no consolation yesterday. After the University of Hawai'i lost the WAC Tournament championship, 53-50, to Louisiana Tech the tears on the faces of the Rainbow Wahine were those of utter dejection.
David Crenshaw • Special to The Advertiser
"We played very good," senior Janka Gabrielova said. "All I can say is I am very proud of my team. That's it."
"We played very good," Janka Gabrielova said, but that didn't stop the tears during the awards ceremony.
To prove her point, tears flooded her eyes again. Her team had come too far to be happy with close.
What could have been was almost beyond imagination: A WAC championship and the NCAA Tournament berth that goes with it; one of the most stunning upsets in the country this season; the most stunning upset in Rainbow Wahine and WAC history; and, a degree of respect this program has never known.
A 23-7 Hawai'i team that doesn't have a starter who would see serious court time for Louisiana Tech held a 28-21 halftime advantage. It fought back when Tech (25-4) made the move all 1,943 at Reynolds Center knew it would, pulling ahead midway through the second half. And it clawed close enough to have three chances to tie the game in the final 46 seconds.
A steal shot down the first opportunity. Two missed 3-point attempts later the Lady Techsters celebrated while the Rainbow Wahine cried. Close was no consolation whatsoever, which spoke volumes about where UH has been and is now.
"I think they are more confident than we think they are," UH coach Vince Goo said. "I've seen them lose a game and still come back for a good next practice. I thought maybe they were so young they don't know any better. But they feed off Janka and Karena (Greeny). I'm glad they're not satisfied with being close. It would have been a huge upset nationally."
It would have made today's NCAA Tournament selection show a time for basking in the glow of Tech's reflected greatness. Instead, Hawai'i will have to hear if the news is good or bad on a layover on its way home. The last three years, it has been bad.
That was clearly in the back of the Rainbows' minds as they out-played one of the country's most successful teams until the final 10 minutes, relentlessly coming at the Lady Techsters inside and winning the battle of the boards against a team that ranks second nationally in rebounding.
"It did catch us off-guard — the number of people they had running inside," said Tech coach Leon Barmore, who starts three seniors. "I just think the man's a good coach. What he does is sound. ... He gets a lot out of them."
In the first seven minutes, UH had seven turnovers and a 12-2 deficit. Few were surprised. What followed was shocking.
Kim Willoughby — a 5-foot-11 All-American volleyball player — instigated a 26-9 Rainbow run that left UH seven points up at the break and Tech looking bewildered. Willoughby scored the first two times she touched the ball i against 6-3 WAC Player of the Year Cheryl Ford — and Gabrielova followed with a clock shot-beating bank shot from behind the arc.
"She made one of those the first game of the season," Goo said, when asked if Gabrielova had called her trick shot. "That means it's good for the rest of the year."
Tech scored to go up 17-13, but its next point wouldn't come for five minutes. Hawai'i cut off its inside game and forced the Techsters to the perimeter, where only Amber Obaze (16 points) came close. The Rainbow Wahine passed Tech with five reserves in, as Willoughby converted on consecutive three-point plays; on the first, she banked in a jumper while getting fouled and ended up at midcourt with her arms raised.
"She was huge," Goo said. "She was just out-quicking them."
Gabrielova's 3-pointer and Greeny's free throws gave Hawai'i a 24-17 lead and Louisiana Tech something to think about.
"We let them do to us what we normally do to other people," Barmore said. "Get the ball in the paint, score and be a force as a team. At halftime we just had to trust that if we let them keep coming inside we don't win. It's that simple."
The Rainbows' lead got as high as nine (32-23) before Tech began to flex the muscle that has taken it to all 20 NCAA Tournaments and one national title. It rammed the ball inside to Ford and All-American Ayana Walker, who scored six straight to cut the deficit to 32-29. Walker's putback tied it at 41 midway through the half. It was one of just six offensive rebounds for Tech, which was averaging 20 a game.
"Before the game," Goo said, "we told the kids, 'Walk in here at halftime with footprints going up the back of your jersey.' "
There would be three more ties, the last at 50 with 1:12 left. Obaze gave Tech the lead on its next possession, then freshman Erica Smith picked off a UH pass, forcing Hawai'i to foul Brooke Lassiter with 27 seconds showing. Lassiter, the NCAA career leader in free throw percentage (.914) missed the second to give the Rainbows one more chance.
It turned out to be two. Greeny got Walker in the air and tried to shoot a 3-pointer under her. She didn't get the basket or the foul, but Chelsea Wagner rebounded with 10 seconds left. Gabrielova's off-balance shot hit nothing and Tech dribbled out the final seconds.
"I give them credit," Barmore said. "I admire what they do. They kept the game close enough to get some confidence. ... The game never got out of the hand for them. I thought maybe at 8-2 it would, and maybe our kids thought it wouldn't be much of a battle."
Hawai'i wasn't having any. It left Tulsa feeling like it left something behind.
"We got after each other to just go and leave everything out there, and not look back and say we wish we'd done this," Willoughby said. "In that, we're happy. ... But, I think we're a better team than Tech. I don't care what anyone says. If we played two out of three we'd definitely come out on top. If you gave us another chance, there would be a different outcome."
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