Rainbow Wahine fall, 44-39
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i played its worst offensive game since 1982 and still had a chance to beat UTEP in the final seconds last night at Don Haskins Center. The Rainbow Wahine couldn't pull it off.
The Miners (9-6, 4-2 WAC) broke an oh-for-forever streak against UH (4-11, 2-4) with a 44-39 victory. UTEP, which has won four in a row for the first time since 1998, had lost all 12 previous meetings with the Rainbows.
Only four Rainbows scored, with Jade Abele posting a game-high 18 points despite injuring her ankle in Wednesday's practice.
"If every one of my kids was as tough as her, we'd be really good," UH coach Vince Goo said.
The 'Bows suffered through a scoreless drought of nearly eight minutes in the first half. They were even less effective on the boards, getting out-rebounded 24-9. They trailed 24-17 at the break.
"They had 10 offensive rebounds and we had zero," Goo said. "We took a whipping in the first half. We out-played them in the second half, got down, played defense, boxed out and got rebounds. The offense wasn't much better though. You're not going to win many games when only four score."
After falling behind 38-27 with 6:40 remaining, the Rainbows rallied with an 8-0 run. It was keyed by Abele and freshmen Janevia Taylor and Brittany Grice, who had four blocks.
Taylor's jumper cut the deficit to 38-35 with 2:28 to go. The teams traded points and UTEP led 42-39 going into the front end of a 1-and-1 on Hawai'i's next possession. The Miners missed at the other end. Grice grabbed her 12th rebound and passed to Milia Macfarlane. UTEP senior Vaida Zagurskyte stole the ball from behind with 10 seconds left.
After a timeout, UH fouled three times to get to what its bench and the scoreboard said was its seventh team foul. The scorer's table said UH had eight team fouls and officials corrected their mistake by putting two Miners on the line. Noni Wharemate hit two free throws to clinch the game.
"I told the players it didn't matter about the fouls at the end or the mismanagement at the scorer's table," Goo said. "That had nothing to do with the loss. It was our lack of competitiveness in the first half."
Hawai'i plays at Boise State tomorrow at 11 a.m. HST. The game will be broadcast live on 1420 AM. UH returns Sunday and plays Rice Thursday and Tulsa next Saturday.
HAWAI'I (39)
MP FG FT R A S PF TP
Abele 36 4-11 9-12 6 0 0 2 18
Grice 25 2-4 2-2 12 0 0 2 6
Taylor 35 4-10 0-0 1 4 2 3 8
Sanders 19 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 2 0
Atuaia 26 2-8 2-2 2 1 0 0 7
Solia 13 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 0
Macfarlane 23 0-2 0-0 1 1 0 2 0
Aiwohi 8 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Lee 15 0-1 0-0 4 0 3 0 0
Team 2
Totals 12-39 13-16 30 6 5 13 39
Percentage .308 .813
UTEP (44)
MP FG FT R A S PF TP
Phelps 25 0-2 2-2 6 0 0 4 2
McGee 33 2-9 0-1 8 2 1 0 5
Zagurskyte 40 5-15 2-2 5 3 3 1 13
Wharemate 21 0-2 2-2 2 3 1 3 2
Valtierra 39 4-9 0-0 4 2 0 4 10
Dydek 12 1-7 0-0 4 0 2 2 2
Launianinen 12 0-4 0-0 1 1 0 1 0
Dowell 7 1-3 0-0 2 0 0 0 2
Goslin 11 3-7 2-2 7 0 0 2 8
Team 3
Totals 16-58 8-9 42 11 7 17 44
Percentage .276 .889
HAWAI'I (4-11, 2-4 WAC) 17 22—39
UTEP (9-6, 4-2 WAC) 24 20—44
3-point goals —UH 2-10 (Abele 1-3, Atuaia 1-6, MacFarlane 0-1), UTEP 4-15 (McGee 1-3, Zagurskyte 1-2, Wharemate 0-1, Valtierra 2-4, Dydek 0-1, Launiainen 0-2, Dowell 0-2, Goslin 0-2).
Blocked shots —UH 6 (Grice 4, Atuaia, Solia), UTEP 2 (Dydek 2). Turnovers — UH 14, UTEP 12.
Att—497.
