Hawai'i basketball women knock off San Jose State, 54-40

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

For the majority of last night's game between San Jose State and Hawai'i, it seemed as if the dark orange basketball did not want to behave.

"I think we played darn good defense," said Hawai'i's Natasja Allen. Advertiser library photo • March 21, 2001

Hawai'i's Natasja Allen scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half and freshman Amy Sanders added a career-high 11.

The Rainbow Wahine improved to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. San Jose State dropped to 6-8 and 2-3.

The 40 points by the Spartans were the lowest by a UH opponent since Feb. 3, 2000 — a span of 90 games — when the Rainbows won at Texas-El Paso, 65-36.

"I think we played darn good defense," said Allen, a 6-2 senior. "It was good help defense."

Hawai'i led 14-13 at halftime with both teams using the majority of the 30-second shot clock and struggling on offense.

The Rainbow Wahine shot 6-of-20 from the field in the first half with 11 turnovers, while the Spartans were 6-of-21 with 12 turnovers.

When asked if it was frustrating in the first half, Allen said: "They weren't scoring either so maybe it was just Saran Wrap over the rim. It happened for both teams."

Allen and Sanders were both 2-of-3 from the field in the first half and the rest of the team was 2-of-14.

"We didn't execute well and catch the ball in the first half," Hawai'i coach Vince Goo said.

On his team's defense, Goo said: "You can't hold a team to 13 points in one half and not say you're doing good things."

San Jose State went on a 13-5 run and took a 30-28 lead on a layup by Tatiana Taylor with 9:20 remaining in the game.

Cricket Williams, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, led the charge with seven points.

But Hawai'i responded with 15 straight points, with Allen scoring eight.

"They were able to take away everything for us, able to get transition baskets and they were rebounding well and giving us one shot," San Jose State coach Janice Richard said. "We struggled getting back in transition and locating their shooters."

Sanders, a 5-11 forward, also contributed six rebounds and two steals for Hawai'i, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

"Amy did more than just scoring, she did well defensively, rebounding and handling the ball," Goo said.

Sanders entered the game averaging 2.5 points and 18.5 minutes per game.

"I need to keep it up," she said. "It would be nice to always have 10, 11 points, not just a one-night thing."

Hawai'i made 19 of 30 free-throw attempts, while San Jose State made just 2 of 3.

"It's rare we have a game where we don't get to the line with Cricket Williams at the point," Richard said. "She does a good job penetrating to the basket."

For the game, the Rainbows made 17 of 47 shots (36.2 percent), while San Jose State made just 18 of 63 (28.6 percent).

Hawai'i primarily stayed in a man-to-man defense and briefly used a 2-3 zone in the second half.

"Hawai'i did a great job with their sagging man-to-man defense and then they switched to the zone to stop Cricket's penetration when she finally started taking it to the basket," Richard said.

Williams finished with a game-high 20 points and now has 1,001 for her career.

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