UH women beat Saint Mary's

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

On a day when its alumnae was honored, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team may have come of age.

A crowd of 751 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the opening game of the Territorial Savings Bank Invitational.

"We're a young team, still growing every day, so every win is big," said UH head coach Vince Goo. "But this was a good one because a lot of different people came through."

All 11 Hawai'i players who saw action scored as the Rainbow Wahine improved to 2-4. Saint Mary's dropped to 4-3.

Among the expected, junior forward Jade Abele scored a game-high 19 points, including the go-ahead basket with 41 seconds remaining. She also contributed eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

"We've gone to her in key moments the last three games," Goo said. "She's showing a lot of leadership."

Among the unexpected, freshman Dalia Solia scored 17 points off the bench. In the five previous games of her UH career, Solia had a total of 16 points.

"Everything I've been doing in practice, I just brought it to the game," said Solia, a Kaimuki High graduate.

Led by Solia, the UH reserves outscored the Gaels' bench, 40-14.

Among the other UH reserves, sophomore Brittney Aiwohi scored a career-high seven points, and freshman Janevia Taylor had seven points and four assists.

"I don't know if you can call it bench," Goo said. "They don't start the game, but we know they're going to come in and play every game."

Abele added: "The bench was a huge key. We need 10 players to get in there every game and put it together like this."

It was a back-and-forth game throughout, with seven lead changes. The Gaels led by as many as six early in the second half, and took a 63-58 lead with 4:54 remaining in the game.

UH tied it at 63 when Solia put back a missed shot, got fouled, and converted the ensuing free throw.

With the score tied at 69, Abele took an inbounds pass and put an up-and-under move on Saint Mary's forward Monica Mertle. Abele scored the basket, got fouled, and made the free throw to put UH in control for good at 72-69. Abele also blocked a shot in the closing seconds to preserve the win.

Saint Mary's was assessed 21 fouls to Hawai'i's six. As a result, the Rainbow Wahine shot 24 of 28 from the free-throw line, while the Gaels were 5 of 8.

"It was consistent all game," Saint Mary's head coach Michelle Jacoby said. "That wasn't the determining factor. The determining factor was that we didn't play defense like we should."

The Gaels entered the game surrendering an average of just 53.5 points per game.

Triola Jackson and Mertle led Saint Mary's with 16 points each.

• Alumnae game: Kyla Evers scored 30 points to lead the Green to a 79-64 victory over the White in an alumnae exhibition before yesterday's game.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.

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