Posted on: Sunday, January 25, 2004
Taylor scores 20 to lead Hawai'i women
| • | UH alone atop WAC after win over Boise |
| • | FERD LEWIS: Kuebler in zone of his own |
| • | WAC standings & Game statistics |
Advertiser Staff
A career game by Janevia Taylor and tough defense sparked the Rainbow Wahine basketball team past host Boise State, 51-44, in a Western Athletic Conference game yesterday.
Taylor, a freshman point guard, scored 18 of her career-high 20 points in the first half, and Hawai'i's defense throttled Boise State's high-powered offense.
The Broncos entered the game as the third-highest scoring team in the WAC, scoring 68.2 points per game.
"The first half was a great individual performance by Nevi Taylor offensively," UH coach Vince Goo said. "In the second half, it was a good performance by the rest of the team."
A crowd of 957 at the Boise State Pavilion saw the Rainbow Wahine improve to 5-11 overall and 3-4 in the WAC. The Broncos fell to 6-10 and 3-4.
Hawai'i never trailed in the game and led by as many as 14 points in the first half and 17 in the second. Boise State cut the lead to 49-44 on a free throw by Cassidy Blaine with 1:19 remaining, but the Broncos would get no closer.
"Overall for the entire game, I thought we did an outstanding job defensively," Goo said. "To hold them to 44 on their turf is a great accomplishment for our ballclub."
Taylor finished 8 of 13 from the field with four 3-pointers. Teammates Jade Abele added six points and six rebounds, and Brittany Grice added 12 rebounds. Blaine led the Broncos with 12 points.
Goo shuffled his starting lineup yesterday, choosing to start junior guard Milia Macfarlane and freshman guard Bryony Crouch in place of senior guard April Atuaia and sophomore guard Amy Sanders.
"What we needed was more effort on the floor, all-out effort on offense and defense," Goo said. "It's not so much Amy and April didn't give us that, it was more that Bryony and Milia earned that."
Taylor scored 10 of Hawai'i's first 13 points. Hawai'i grabbed its largest lead of the first half at 35-21 on a basket by Sanders.
Hawai'i led 35-23 at halftime and increased its lead to 43-26 in the second half.
The Rainbow Wahine shot 42 percent for the game (20 of 48) and held the Broncos to 29 percent (12 of 41).
