Goo era comes to end with loss to Boise St.
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
FRESNO, Calif. — In a game that epitomized its season, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team battled hard, stayed close and eventually came up short in a 59-56 loss to Boise State yesterday at the Save Mart Center.
Associated Press
With that, the women's basketball world bid farewell to Rainbow Wahine head coach Vince Goo, whose retirement officially started when the final horn sounded.
Boise State's Nadia Begay tries to penetrate against Hawai'i's April Atuaia.
"Coming into this year, we knew it was going to be a struggle as far as wins are concerned," Goo said. "But I tell you what, of the 17 teams I've had, this team has been the most resilient. I think they're No. 1 of my 17 teams I've had as far as competitiveness."
But there would be no storybook ending for Goo.
The Rainbow Wahine entered yesterday's Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed. They were playing yesterday in one of two play-in games for the bottom four teams in the conference.
Boise State was the No. 9 seed, and it was the Broncos who walked off the court with the happy ending.
Cassidy Blaine drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 6.3 seconds remaining for what proved to be the game-winning shot. Hawai'i could not get off a potential-tying 3-pointer on its final possession.
And so the Rainbows ended their season at 8-20. Goo ended his 17-year stint at UH with a record of 334-166 — more victories than any other college basketball coach in Hawai'i history.
"Nothing different from any other of the first 16 (seasons)," Goo said of his feelings after the game. "I think the only difference is we have a bunch of young players coming back next season and they're going to be pretty good. I'm going to be sitting up there watching them play and when they come up with a big win, I'm going to chuckle and say I took all the losses for them their freshman year."
Yesterday's loss was perhaps the most frustrating of the season. The Rainbows entered the game with a 6-0 all-time record against the Broncos.
In two victories over Boise State this season, the Rainbows never trailed at any stage of either game. That changed in the first five minutes yesterday, when the Broncos took a 7-6 lead.
Associated Press
Intent on letting the Rainbows shoot rainbows, Boise State employed a 2-3 defensive zone for most of the game.
The Boise State bench celebrates after Cassidy Blaine's 3-pointer that proved to be the difference in the Broncos' win over Hawai'i.
"Although all of them can shoot the ball and are capable of shooting the ball, it's not their bread and butter," Boise State head coach Jen Warden said of Hawai'i's offense. "We wanted them to go to something that they were not accustomed to."
The Rainbows took the bait, launching 31 3-pointers, which was both a UH record and WAC Tournament record. Goo said he was content with his team's shot selection.
"We had a lot of wide-open shots," he said. "We just didn't get them to fall."
Hawai'i freshman point guard Janevia Taylor scored a game-high 18 points, including 4 of 8 shooting from 3-point range.
"Since they were laying back (in a zone), we said we need to get some skip passes and we'll have it wide open," she said. "It was like a green light."
However, Hawai'i connected on just 9 of 31 shots from 3-point range (29 percent). The Rainbows were 20 of 61 from the field overall (32.8 percent). Of those 20 field goals, only four came from within five feet of the basket.
The Rainbows hit six 3-pointers in the first half, including one by Jade Abele that gave them a 28-24 lead at halftime.
Boise State 59, Hawai‘i 56
Hawai'i built its lead to 37-30, but the Broncos responded with an 11-2 run to reclaim the lead at 41-39 with 9:55 remaining. The game went back and forth after that, with neither team leading by more than three.
First Round
Yesterday
San Jose State 68, Nevada, 60
Quarterfinals
Today
Louisiana Tech vs. Boise State, 10 a.m.
Texas-El Paso vs. Southern Methodist, 12:30 p.m.
Rice vs. San Jose State, 4 p.m.
Tulsa vs. Fresno State, 6:30 p.m.
A key stretch came when UH starting center Brittany Grice and starting power forward Abele fouled out within 12 seconds of each other with 3:31 remaining. Boise State responded by scoring five consecutive points to turn a 53-51 deficit into a 56-53 lead.
April Atuaia — the lone senior on the Hawai'i roster — made a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 23.4 seconds remaining to tie it at 56 before Blaine hit her game-winner 17 seconds later.
"There was no hesitation," she said. "I got it, I was open, so I shot it."
Michelle Hessing, a 6-foot-2 freshman center, led the Broncos with 16 points, while Nadia Begay added 13. Blaine finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
Abele finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Amy Sanders added eight points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Hawai'i, which has never won a WAC Tournament.
"We didn't lose it," Goo said. "Our philosophy is you never lose until you stop trying and our kids never did."
Boise State, which improved to 9-19, advanced to today's quarterfinals, where it will face No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
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