Rainbow Wahine get 75-57 victory over Texas-El Paso

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i blew out of the blocks to begin both halves last night but, in a testament to Texas-El Paso's newfound tenacity, it took a closing flourish for the Rainbow Wahine to win their Western Athletic Conference basketball opener, 75-57.

Hawai'i's Natasja Allen fights off UTEP's Dragana Zoric for a rebound in the first half. The Rainbows won 75-57 in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Last night, the Rainbow Wahine got double-digit scoring from Christen Roper (16), April Atuaia (15) and Kim Willoughby (13), in her first game since switching over from volleyball.

Reserve Romie DeAnda, the reigning WAC Player of the Week, led UTEP (5-6, 0-1) with 20 points. She hit her first four 3-pointers to help the Miners get back into the game after an ugly start, then played the role of under-sized — and all but impossible to guard — post most of the second half to keep UTEP in the game.

"They (the Miners) have improved a lot in the last year," said UH sophomore Jade Abele, who had three of her career-high nine assists in the first four minutes. "They seem to have a lot more fire in them. They used to just rely on one or two players. Now they all look to score and they are very quick. Our transition defense has got to get a bit better than that."

The Miners were so quick they needed just 3 1/2 minutes to get back into a game that Hawai'i threatened to blow open early. The Rainbow Wahine outscored UTEP 14-2 in the opening minutes as the Miners missed their first six shots. DeAnda broke the ice when she subbed in, immediately draining a 3-pointer to kick-start a 10-0 Miner run and a major rally.

UTEP switched to a zone and began beating Hawai'i downcourt. Its defense, which had left three players wide open under the basket in the opening minutes, transformed into a swarm of pests. Hawai'i missed seven straight perimeter shots and clung to its advantage only because the Miners turned the ball over a dozen times in the half.

"We were very hesitant against their zone," UH coach Vince Goo said. "When you're spread out in the zone like that, and taking long shots and getting long rebounds, then they get to run on you."

When Willoughby made her first appearance of the season, 7:51 before halftime, her team was ahead 20-18. She provided six points and one of her seven rebounds before the break, but UTEP refused to go away. Despite the stone-cold start, it made 57 percent of its first-half shots, even with leading scorer Dragana Zoric getting shut out the first 15 minutes.

"There are three things they like to do and we weren't defending any of the three well the latter part of the half," Goo said. "They shoot the perimeter shot, they run and they like to penetrate on the dribble. Those are the things we gave them — a lot."

Hawai'i hit 45 percent of its first-half shots — getting assists on all but one of its 14 baskets — and led just 34-33 at halftime.

The close game showed a tenacity UTEP has lacked. It was 3-25 last season after hiring Keitha Green to coach. This year she brought in nine new players, including six junior-college transfers. The Miners are not even remotely similar and now have depth that allowed them to go to a new look in the second half. They played four guards after the opening minutes because their posts were so ineffective against Roper, Willoughby and Natasja Allen (9 rebounds, 8 points, 3 assists).

But in those opening minutes, the Rainbows scored the first 11 points — against the same zone that flustered them earlier — to extend their edge to 45-33.

"The lesson for us to learn is, against a good team like that you can't have those kinds of lulls," Green said. "There were times in the game we tried to claw our way back but, all in all, there's no question Hawai'i has a good team. We're making strides. We're trying to get where Hawai'i is at."

Green went to her "little look" to stop the streak, but it couldn't make a serious dent in the deficit. This time, the Rainbow Wahine defense did not let the Miners back in, holding them to 23 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.

UTEP never got closer than nine again. That came with 6:04 showing. Atuaia ignited a 15-6 closing surge that finally dropped the hammer on the Miners.

Willoughby played 17 minutes and five of her rebounds came on the offensive end. It was an even more auspicious debut than her initial appearance a year ago and precisely what the Rainbow Wahine needed when Roper got into foul trouble and Allen needed a breather.

Before Willoughby, Hawai'i had to go with two freshmen when their posts came out. Now they have a somewhat seasoned volleyball All-American.

"Last year, my first day, I didn't even want to shoot. I just wanted to rebound and play defense," Willoughby recalled. "Tonight I shot almost every time I touched it. I thought, 'What is going on here? I think the old Kim Willoughby is coming back. That can't happen because I'll get kicked off the team if that happens.' My team has been patient with me. We realize we can be great together."

OVER AND BACK: UH freshman Amy Sanders started for April Atuaia, who suffered for more than a week with a virus. ... Hawai'i had been out-scoring opponents 18-8 from the foul line. Its advantage was just 11-10 last night. ... The Rainbow Wahine are now 11-0 against UTEP.

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