UH women still winless on road
Advertiser Staff
Nevada sent Hawai'i to its sixth consecutive road loss last night, overcoming the Rainbow Wahine, 75-69, in a Western Athletic Conference basketball game before 498 in Reno.
Hawai'i led 59-52 with 9:13 remaining. Nevada scored the game's last nine points.
"We've got to have everybody show up every night and produce every night," UH coach Vince Goo said. "We can't have people take a game off here and there. We've got to play together every night."
The loss was the Rainbows' fifth in six games and dropped them to 12-10 and 6-7 in the WAC. They are winless away from home this season, losing by an average of six points on the road.
Nevada (10-14, 3-11), which lost its first 10 conference games, has now won three of four. It fell in Hawai'i by one Jan. 25 after building a 17-point advantage in the first half.
"I think we played better than the last time," Goo said. "Our offense is coming around, but our defense had some breakdowns."
Seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech (21-2, 14-0) clinched the regular-season title last night. UH remained fifth despite falling below .500 and losing to the Wolf Pack for the first time in eight years. Eight of the 10 WAC teams — Tech and Nevada being the exceptions —are separated by three games.
The teams were never more than seven points apart at Lawlor Events Center. Nevada took its biggest lead early, outscoring UH 16-9 in the first seven minutes.
The Rainbows rallied behind reserve Kim Willoughby, who scored 20 points for the second time in three games; no other UH player has done it once this season. Willoughby scored nine in an 11-2 run that put Hawai'i ahead.
The back-and-forth surges continued the rest of the game as the 'Bows' nationally ranked defense was burned again. They gave up a season-high point total for the second time in as many games and again struggled to contain the opposing point guard.
Nevada's Laura Ingham finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Sunday, Cricket Williams had 24 points and 10 assists to lift San Jose State over UH.
Ingham's drive gave the Pack the lead for good at 71-69 with 42 second remaining. In the final seconds, UH missed a 3-pointer and turned the ball over while Ingham made four free throws.
Michelle Gabriel and Natasja Allen added 10 points apiece for UH.
Hawai'i closes this trip tomorrow afternoon at Fresno State. The game will be broadcast live on 1420 AM beginning at 11:45 a.m. HST.
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