Tulsa deals Hawai'i another road defeat
Advertiser Staff
The road continued to be unkind to the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team.
The Rainbow Wahine came up short against Tulsa yesterday, falling to the Golden Hurricane 45-42 in a Western Athletic Conference game at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
After rallying from a 13-point halftime deficit, the Rainbow Wahine closed to 43-42 with 4:21 left on Jade Abele's layup.
After a Tulsa miss, Kim Willoughby pulled down the rebound for UH, and was tied up, with the possession arrow favoring the Golden Hurricane.
The Rainbow Wahine thought Willoughby was fouled.
"We could have been down by one with us having a last shot to win the ball game," UH coach Vince Goo said. "But, that's how it goes on the road."
The Rainbow Wahine dipped to 11-7 overall and 5-4 in the WAC. UH has lost lost all four of its road games this season.
Hawai'i was forced to foul Tulsa four times in the final seconds to put the Golden Hurricane at the foul line in the bonus situation.
Freshman Kara Pongonis hit two free throws with 14 seconds to go, giving Tulsa a 45-42 lead.
Michelle Gabriel's final shot for the Rainbow Wahine was off the mark.
The Rainbow Wahine hung tight with Tulsa for most of the first half, before the Golden Hurricane went on a 17-4 run in the final 7:56 for a 30-17 halftime lead.
Allison Curtin, who finished with a game-high 25 points, keyed Tulsa's run, scoring 19 of her points in the first half and 12 of the team's 17 points in the run.
The Golden Hurricane shot 40.6 percent from the field in the first half, but Hawai'i held it to just a 16.1-percent performance in the second half.
Goo said his players did the same thing in the second half as the first, "but did a lot better job of covering their shooters and denying dribble penetration into the basket."
The Rainbow Wahine struggled in the first half, hitting just 6 of 30 field-goal attempts.
"The first 10 shots of the game we missed and all were very good looks on good execution on our offense," Goo said.
In the second half, Hawai'i made 10 of 28 field-goal attempts, and finished the game with a 27.6 percentage.
April Atuaia led Hawai'i with 13 points, while Natasja Allen scored 12. Christen Roper was the top rebounder, pulling down 10.
The victory was Tulsa's second in 10 games against Hawai'i, and the Golden Hurricane improved to 12-8 and 7-2.
"We know we're a pretty good defensive team and we showed that tonight," Goo said. "We just need to get the ball in the basket on the offensive end."
• • •
