Rainbow Wahine face grueling WAC road swing
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Going on the road in the Western Athletic Conference has become basketball's version of walking the plank. The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine hope to stay dry this time.
Hawai'i (12-8) has lost all four road games this season and fallen into a three-way tie for fourth in the WAC at 6-5. All its other losses have come against ranked teams.
The Rainbow Wahine can't afford to fall farther going into their longest trip of the year. They play at San Jose State on Sunday, Nevada on Thursday and Fresno State next Saturday.
"We don't have to win every one," said UH coach Vince Goo, who hasn't made any alterations in his road preparation. "Just the next one."
UH is not the only WAC team with travel tribulations. Outside of 10th-ranked Louisiana Tech, every WAC team has a losing record away from home.
"People have no clue how tough the travel is in the WAC, unless you take a trip with us," SMU coach Rhonda Rhompola said. "We flew five hours from San Jose, practice in a different time zone and play the next day. Hawai'i has the same thing when they come over. I see fatigue in our legs — all those short shots. Players might not think they're tired, but you don't see them moving as well as they normally do.
"And you see it more this year, where the home team is winning. All we can hope to do now is at least protect our homecourt and hope to come up with wins on the road."
That is Hawai'i's hope in the next eight days. It defeated all these teams at home last month, holding SJSU and FSU below 44 points and outscoring Nevada 17-6 at the end.
The Rainbows are averaging only 50 points in road games, but are coming off their best offensive showing since the WAC opener. UH scored 69 points against SMU, sprinting its way out of a shooting slump with an emphasis on pushing the ball downcourt and not passing up perimeter shots.
It also helped that volleyball All-America Kim Willoughby began to look awfully comfortable on the basketball court. Willoughby averaged 18 points and 13 1/2 rebounds last week, putting up double-doubles against Tech and SMU.
Willoughby is now second on the team in scoring and rebounding. She became the first Rainbow Wahine to score 20 points this season, against SMU. Hawai'i now has five players averaging at least 10 points.
"Kim told me she feels like there's not as much pressure on her this year," teammate Michelle Gabriel said. "Last year she felt like everyone was yelling at her and she was looking for her rhythm. Now there's no one yelling at her. It's just us, watching her."
The quicker offense suits Willoughby's style and gives fast freshman guard Trisha Nishimoto a better opportunity to contribute. She, Gabriel and Milia Macfarlane could all take turns guarding SJSU's Cricket Williams on Sunday.
Williams is second in WAC scoring (19.9 points per game), assists (6.1) and steals (3.1). Lately, it hasn't been enough for the Spartans (8-12, 4-7 WAC), who have lost their last four. They went into the final minute against Tech trailing by one and turned the ball over three times. San Jose is still 7-3 at home.
Willoughby and Goo have agreed that she will be able to play in the volleyball exhibition against defending NCAA champion USC on March 18, if UH is home.
The WAC Tournament ends March 15. The team will return to Hawai'i whether it wins or not. The NCAA and Women's National Invitation Tournament fields are announced March 16. UH has been in the WNIT the past three years.
OVER AND BACK: Sunday's game will be broadcast live on 1420 AM beginning at 11:45 a.m. ... In this week's national statistics, Hawai'i ranks first in fewest fouls (11.5), ninth in fewest turnovers (14.2), 20th in field goal percentage defense (.359) and 21st in scoring defense (56.8). ... The Rainbow Wahine are 9-0 when they score 60 points. ... Christen Roper needs nine blocks to set a WAC career record. She currently has 260 and is third nationally, at 3.4 a game. ... Hawai'i's power rating is 53 in the latest CollegeRPI.com list. San Jose State is 185. ... In conference games, Michelle Gabriel leads the WAC in assist to turnover ratio, at 2.77. ... Thursday's game at Nevada begins at 5 p.m. HST. The Feb. 22 game at Fresno starts at noon.
