UH gets past Gonzaga, 71-61

By Leila Wai
Special to the Advertiser

UH's Natasja Allen is defended by Gonzaga's Ashley Shearer during the Rainbow Wahine Classic. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser HAWAIIAN AIRLINES RAINBOW WAHINE CLASSIC Where: At Stan Sheriff Center Today's Games: Hawai'i vs. Connecticut, 11 a.m.; DePaul vs. Fordham, 1:10 p.m.; Gonzaga vs. Denver, 3:20 p.m.; North Carolina vs. Oklahoma 5:30 p.m. On the air: Radio: 1420-AM; TV: 11 a.m., K5. Tickets: $8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and $5 for UH students and children under 18. Tickets can be purchased at Stan Sheriff Center box office, or by calling TicketPlus at 526-4400.

The tournament also features No. 5 Connecticut, the defending national champion, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 23 Oklahoma, Denver, DePaul, Fordham and Gonzaga.

Today, Hawai'i will face Connecticut, which beat Denver, 85-29, yesterday.

Led by senior Natasja Allen, who finished with a game-high 18 points, Hawai'i led the entire game, except for two early ties.

April Atuaia added 17 points, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and Jade Abele had 15.

"I think after my first shot I knew it was going to be a good night, especially with the posts passing it well when they were getting double-teamed," said Atuaia, who had 11 rebounds to lead Hawai'i.

"They hit shots," Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. "We took our chances and they were shooting well from the perimeter.

"They did a good job. They were aggressive and we were caught flat- footed at times, so I give them credit, they did a good job."

Gonzaga, which was a smaller team than Hawai'i, depended on its perimeter shooting throughout the game. It worked, for a while.

"The first half they had a lot of second shots and long rebounds," Hawai'i coach Vince Goo said. "It kept them in the game; they had a lot of second-chance opportunities."

Hawai'i (3-0) led 38-34 at halftime, and held the Bulldogs (1-2) to seven points through the first 14 minutes of the second half, building up its largest lead of the game — 58-41 with 6:21 remaining.

Gonzaga answered with a 9-0 run to close to 58-50, but couldn't get closer than seven the rest of the game.

"I thought we got a lot of good shots in the second half," Graves said. "We were getting a lot of the same shots in the first, but they didn't go in. We have to be aggressive and take it to the basket, and do some things to jump-start the offense.

"If we just rely on the perimeter game, we are going to have nights like this, where you go 10 minutes without scoring."

The Bulldogs double- and triple-teamed Hawai'i posts Allen and Christen Roper.

"They were a lot shorter and skinnier, and they were trying to equalize that," Allen said. "'Rope is 6-5, and you can't really defend against that unless you double team.

"Coach always tells us that if people double team, then someone is always open on the outside, so flare it out.

"And if you flare it out enough, then they will start overplaying the outside and it is open back on the inside."

Hawai'i made 22-of-43 shots from the field, shooting 51.2 percent for the game.

"We controlled the tempo of the game," Goo said. "We executed our offense well."

However, the Rainbow Wahine shot 67.6 percent (23-of-34) from the free-throw line.

"Sixty-seven percent is not a good percentage," Goo said. "Some people were shooting good, others were not. As a team we need to go out there, get relaxed, and get in a rhythm."

Ashley Burke led Gonzaga with 17 points and Shannon Mathews contributed 14.

No. 11 North Carolina 82, DePaul 66: Reserve La'Tangela Atkinson had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as the Tar Heels (3-0) shut down the Blue Demons (1-1) in a first-round game.

The Tar Heels play Oklahoma in tonight's semifinals.

Coretta Brown made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for the Tar Heels, who made the defensive adjustments needed to hold off DePaul.

North Carolina forced DePaul to take 28 shots from 3-point range, making only seven.

Jamie Smith scored 16 points and had nine rebounds for DePaul.

No. 23 Oklahoma 90, Fordham 62: Maria Villarroel scored 30 points and Theresa Schuknecht grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Sooners (4-1) over the Rams (2-1) in a first-round game.

Villarroel was 13-of-18 from the field, relying on her speed to make breakaway layups. Caitlin Chiaramonte had 12 points and Mobolaji Akiode added 10 for Fordham.

Oklahoma shot 54 percent for the game, while making 20-of-27 free throws.

No. 5 Connecticut 85, Denver 29: Diana Taurasi scored 16 points, and Nicole Wolff and Barbara Turner each added 12 as the Huskies (3-0) routed the Pioneers (0-3).

UConn shot 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field, while Denver shot just 16.4 percent (9-of-55).