Posted on: Friday, February 13, 2004

Lady Techsters rout Rainbows

Advertiser Staff

Louisiana Tech cannot leave the Western Athletic Conference fast enough for the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine basketball team.

Last night — days after LaTech said it would prefer to play in Conference USA — the sixth-ranked Techsters raced past the Rainbows, 83-45, at Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston.

It was the worst defeat of the season for Hawai'i (5-15, 3-8 WAC). UH had the same number of turnovers as points (17) in a disastrous first half.

"They went up quick and were playing relentless on us," UH coach Vince Goo said. "We got a little shell-shocked. I thought Nevi (Taylor) and Trisha (Nishimoto) kept good composure at the point position, but once we made our first pass we had problems."

Hawai'i trailed by 25 (42-17) at the break and fell behind by 50 (74-24) before outscoring the liberally substituting Techsters in the closing minutes.

"Give Louisiana Tech credit for being humble," Goo said. "I think their coach has a lot of respect for our program and coaches. They knew they didn't need to go to 90 or 100 points."

Hawai'i has lost its past four. Last night's defeat was the worst of the season. It was also the 17th straight time UH has lost to a ranked team.

The Techsters (18-2, 11-1) are beating teams by an average of 25 points. They beat Nevada by 63.

UH held the Techsters to 67 points in a loss last month in Hawai'i, their third-lowest total of the season. In four of the past five games, the Techsters have scored at least 85 points and came in averaging 84.

"In the first game their defensive intensity was not as high as it was tonight," Goo said. "They are very good, very athletic. They're the No. 6 team in the country and we're the fourth-youngest team in the country. Something's got to give and that's what happened tonight."

The Techsters shot 53 percent for the game, with assists on 20 of 35 baskets. They turned the ball over 15 times, but had 15 steals.

Amber Obaze led all scorers with 17 points, on 7 of 9 shooting. Amisha Carter added 15 and Trina Frierson eight; those two lead the WAC in scoring.

Jade Abele, who is third in WAC scoring, led Hawai'i with 14 points. The Rainbows shot 35 percent for the game and finished with a season-high 29 turnovers.

The Hawai'i-SMU game will be broadcast live at 10 a.m. tomorrow on 1420 AM. A month ago, UH earned its most one-sided victory of the season against the Mustangs, beating them 67-50. That was at home, and before the 'Bows had been torched by LaTech.