This time, NIT pleases Rainbow Wahine

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Maybe the fourth time wasn't a charm, but it sure feels better than the first three.

"We showed at times we could be a really good team and we showed at times we could really not be so good," senior Michelle Gabriel said. Advertiser library photo • Nov. 13, 2002

"We have gone to the WNIT in the past with feelings of disappointment because we thought we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament instead," said UH coach Vince Goo, who was irate the last three years when his 20-win teams did not get an NCAA at-large bid. "The situation this year is completely different. We didn't win enough games to deserve consideration. We go in with a different feeling — a good feeling that the season is extended."

Hawai'i (16-13) lost to eventual conference champion and sixth-ranked Louisiana Tech Friday in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal and returned from Tulsa last night. It heads for Arizona State (15-13) feeling much more optimistic about its chances.

The Rainbows were oh-for-2003 on the road going into their last trip. They were not alone in their futility. WAC home teams won 70 percent of conference games this season. The percentage was identical in the women's Pac-10.

But at Boise, the 'Bows blew the home team away. In El Paso, they won by shooting 65 percent in the second half.

"Why couldn't we play that way the whole time?" senior Michelle Gabriel asked. "Vince was to a point where he just told us play hard. It wasn't about x's and o's. We had no chance to win conference."

"I think it got to a point," added senior Christen Roper, "where we just said, 'Forget it, let's win and forget about the past.' "

In a WAC Tournament quarterfinal Wednesday, fifth-seeded Hawai'i put its finest game of the season together to take out fourth-seeded Tulsa.

"I thought that was huge because of the way we played," Goo said.

Then his team got hammered by Tech, 85-58.

It was just the latest in a season of contrasts that prevented anyone, particularly Goo, from getting a grip on his team.

"We haven't been as consistent as other years," he said. "I can't read them, can't predict. We're very average when we don't have our stuff."

That happened more often than any Rainbow Wahine team since 1995. Hawai'i lost to every conference team but Boise and UTEP — who finished eighth and ninth — to tie for fourth, its lowest WAC finish ever. At home, it beat every conference team but Rice and LaTech.

In the preseason, it lost by seven to defending national champion Connecticut, which eventually rose to No. 1 in the rankings and set a new standard for consecutive victories. And that was without Kim Willoughby, who would transform herself from volleyball All-American to Hawai'i's leading scorer in January. Three months later, the 'Bows lost at hapless Nevada.

Every trip was an adventure. So was every half. Hawai'i once hit 20 percent of its shots in a half and 65 percent in another. Its fall Friday was only the third time this year it could not sustain a second-half surge to cut into a deficit. But usually it was only good enough to get close.

That was a surprise for everyone who had grown accustomed to 20-win seasons, particularly the seniors, who know nothing else. Leaving as the only class to win 20 games every year is now their goal. To do it, they will have to reach the WNIT championship.

"At the beginning of the season, in the pickup games, I thought this team was going to be a lot better," Gabriel said. "You could see the talent. But we were so up and down. We weren't consistent. We showed at times we could be a really good team and we showed at times we could really not be so good."

Goo saw it early and hoped his team would steady out with seasoning. Last week was as close as it got.

"We were inconsistent all season," Goo said. "Not enough people came every night and played consistently. Not that they weren't trying, it was just performance. We could always rely on two or three kids every night before. This year, maybe one or two would have a good game. Just not enough consistency. That's what it is when you lose on the road by three or four points all the time. It's not a lack of effort, not a lack of work ethic or wanting to win. It's just ... how it worked out."

The Rainbows now have a chance to make it better.

OVER AND BACK: The Rainbow Wahine basketball banquet will be Sunday, April 13. Call 956-4507 for information. ... Nevada women's coach Ada Gee announced her retirement Friday at the WAC Tournament. Gee was 119-162 in 10 years with the Wolf Pack. Her team finished last in the WAC this season at 3-15 and was 10-19 overall. ... Fresno State is scheduled to host the 2004 WAC Basketball Tournament at its new on-campus arena. The WAC will probably make a contingency plan at next month's meeting, in case the Bulldogs are penalized by the NCAA for infractions that kept them out of this year's men's tournament. ... The 2005 WAC Tournament will be March 8-12 at Reno. ... This year's WAC Volleyball Tournament will be back in Reno, tentatively Nov. 21-23. Nevada was the only school to bid for the tournament. The conference is expected to announce final details after next month's meeting.