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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 9, 2004

UH women open against Boise St.

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

 •  2004 McCaffrey WAC

Women's Basketball Tournament

Today's games, HST

Game 1—Boise State vs. Hawai'i, 10 a.m.

G2—Nevada vs. San Jose State, 12:30 p.m.

Tomorrow's games

Quarterfinals

G3—Winner G1 vs. La. Tech, 10 a.m.

G4—SMU vs. UTEP, 12:30 p.m.

G5—Winner G2 vs. Rice, 4 p.m.

G6—Fresno State vs. Tulsa, 6:30 p.m.

Friday's games

Semifinals

G7—Winner G3 vs. Winner G4, 10 a.m.

G8—Winner G5 vs. Winner G6, 12:30 p.m.

Saturday's game

Championship

G9—Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 10 a.m.

It has been a strange and strangely entertaining Rainbow Wahine basketball season. Why not a funky focus for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament?

As the tears dried and the ovations died Saturday after Vince Goo's final home game as Hawai'i's head coach, the focus turned to Fresno. UH, seeded eighth, takes on ninth-seeded Boise State today (10 a.m. HST) in a play-in game at the Save Mart Center.

Both teams are 8-19. Today's winner gets sixth-ranked Louisiana Tech in a quarterfinal tomorrow. The Rainbow Wahine's goal is for Goo to go out against the best.

"If Vince is going to go out," junior Jade Abele said, "he's really going to go out with a bang now against the No. 6 team in the country."

If they are going to go out, and take their head coach of 17 years with them, the Rainbow Wahine would prefer to go kicking and screaming. It has been that kind of season.

Goo, 57, was ready to retire a year ago. He chose to coach one more season so he could get this group, which includes nine freshmen (counting redshirts), "centered in the right direction."

All nine achieved grade point averages of 3.0 or better their first semester. On the court, the numbers have not been as impressive.

Hawai'i is the WAC's worst offensive team. Goo is enduring only his third losing season. He goes into his 500th game as head coach with a record of 334-165, making him the winningest college basketball coach in Hawai'i history.

He has no regrets.

"I knew this would not be another season with 20 wins," he said. "That would have been close to a miracle because of our inexperience. But when all nine freshmen made 3.0 or better the first semester I felt good about it. I also feel this is one of our most improved teams. It might be because we had the most improvement to make and most maturing to do, but I think we've done that.

"We've had a lot of close games. For us to be in ballgames with our youth says a lot."

Hawai'i used its 11th starting lineup Saturday. Of the six freshmen on the roster, five have started. The first-year players are providing 44 percent of the minutes, 42 percent of the rebounding and 41 percent of the scoring.

Janevia Taylor, named to the WAC's all-Freshman team, has started at point guard in every conference game. With her doing the bulk of the ballhandling, Hawai'i is the WAC team least prone to turnovers, and ranks 25th nationally in fewest giveaways.

"Our whole team has improved 20-fold," Abele said. "Nevi was coming off the bench the first few games and now she's playing phenomenally. And (Brittany) Grice is really stepping it up. Everyone is falling into a roll and we're really playing our butts off. We've never lost because of lack of effort."

This is not the team the WAC saw two months ago. Realistically, it is not a team that can challenge LaTech or beat Boise badly either, but it is dramatically better and more balanced than it was. The time together has helped the 'Bows understand one another, and one another's games, even as the losses mounted.

"We've grown, we're a different team than when we started," said April Atuaia, the team's only senior. "It's a change for the good. We've been playing really well the last couple weeks. Going into the tournament I think we have a good chance of showing the other teams our new look. We know each other. Everybody wants to win and we really have a good chemistry with each other. That's really helping us out."

Boise State is the only WAC team that has never defeated Hawai'i. The Broncos' frustration was so obvious their coach, Jen Warden, looked for Goo after their last game so she could ask him what he does that confuses her team so much.

"I'm never going to play against him again and I really want to know," Warden said then. "No other team makes us look this bad."

She never found Goo that night. If Hawai'i is fortunate, she won't figure out what has gone wrong until after today's game.

"I hope we can beat Boise again," Goo said. "That game against LaTech would be tough, but if you're going to go out, go out against the best. That's the way I feel."

OVER AND BACK: Hawai'i has been involved in the highest- and lowest-scoring WAC Tournament games, and won both. It defeated Nevada, 45-41, two years ago and SMU, 97-88 in overtime, in 2001. ... Christen Roper has moved her professional career from Germany to Greece. Roper, who completed her eligibility last year as the WAC's career blocks leader, is playing in Serres, about 10 hours north of Athens. She had 21 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks in her second game. The season ends in less than a month. ... Hawai'i is 8-7 in the WAC Tournament. It lost in the championship game in 2001 and 2002, and has been ousted by Louisiana Tech the past two years.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.