The University of Hawaii sophomore guard displayed her new 3-point shooting proficiency, hitting two key bombs to help the Wahine beat the New Zealand National team, 59-53.
Although an exhibition, it was the first live opposition for Hawaii. The Wahine open their season by hosting the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic, this Friday through Sunday.
Itoman's shots began and ended a 12-0 run early in the second half that gave UH command of the game. Hawaii led, 30-28, before Itoman's first trey, and 42-28 after the second.
Last month, at Midnight Ohana - the first "practice" of the year - Itoman and men's player Alika Smith shot it out at long range. Smith won, but Itoman took him to the limit.
Still, as Itoman admits, a glorified game of H-O-R-S-E is one thing, game competition another.
"I was happy to be able to have something I worked on hard in the summer pay off in a pressure situation in a game," said Itoman, who made only 1-of-19 3-pointers last year. "I focused more on my outside game (in the off-season). I tried to get in as many as I could, four or five times a week. One day we counted, and it was 800."
Today, Itoman might be shooting that many free throws after missing the front ends of two one-and-one opportunities down the stretch that could've knocked out the Kiwis. Kendis Leeburg, otherwise superb with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds, also missed one in the last two minutes.
Fortunately for the Wahine, Nani Cockett hit six of six at the end. But Cockett, the junior all-conference candidate, was less than lethal from the field, making only two of nine. She finished with 13 points.
Any offensive difficulties didn't seem to bother Wahine coach Vince Goo as much as Hawaii's sporadic effort on defense. At times, UH looked like the NCAA tournament team of last year that set school records for forcing turnovers. At others, it was too passive, as a total of only seven steals attests.
Goo wouldn't use the fact that he substituted liberally as an excuse.
"We platooned to get everyone some playing time, he said. "We wanted to see what people would do under fire; see who would come through.
"There is a problem when we don't keep up our defense," Goo added. "It should always be high-intensity, a lot of pressure on the ball."
Forty minutes of hell, instead of scattered purgatory, could've really done a number on the visitors - New Zealand was playing its 10th game in 12 days and was down to only eight players. But one of them was Sonja Akkerman, a 6-2 center who scored a game-high 21 points.
An Akkerman 3-pointer and her jumper in the key helped New Zealand jump to a 10-3 lead. But Leeburg, Hawaii's 6-3 senior center, paced a 14-point Wahine run that saw five different UH players score.
Leeburg had 10 points in the first half, after which Hawaii led, 28-24.
After the Itoman-led Wahine rally in the second half, the closest New Zealand got in pre-garbage time was 51-44 with four minutes left, after Akkerman hit another 3-pointer. She fouled out with 45 seconds left, and Cockett's free throws made it 55-47.
"They'll do well," said Akkerman, when asked to compare the Wahine with other teams she played against on the trip. "They've got strong post players and some guards who really do some good things with the ball. Most teams we played had one or the other, not both."
Akkerman was the only New Zealand player in double figures last night. She might eventually get some help in the form of Hawaii's top scorer of a year ago, Tania Brunton.
"We're really looking forward to working her into the national program," New Zealand coach Carl Dickel said. But when I talked to her, she was also interested in playing professional ball."
New Zealandmp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Paul 32 2 11 0 0 3 5 5 Thompson 18 2 3 2 5 2 1 6 Walker 34 2 14 0 0 4 3 4 Cameron 30 2 6 2 5 7 3 6 Sorra 14 0 3 0 0 1 2 0 Akkerman 29 9 22 0 0 10 5 21 Erb 22 1 1 0 0 6 1 2 Lattimore 21 4 4 1 2 8 1 9 Team 3 Totals 200 22 64 5 12 44 21 53
Wahinemp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Forsberg 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 Kotilainen 22 1 7 0 0 4 0 3 Cockett 24 2 9 9 10 5 0 13 Itoman 16 3 5 0 2 1 0 8 Ashby 25 1 3 1 1 5 2 3 Fujimoto 17 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 Liu 14 0 1 1 2 1 3 1 Evers 7 1 3 0 0 1 0 2 Macintyre 9 1 5 0 0 0 0 3 Wautlet 15 0 3 0 0 3 2 0 Howard 18 3 5 1 3 3 3 8 Leeburg 26 7 10 2 5 10 1 16 Team 3 Totals 200 20 52 14 23 39 12 59Key: mp-minutes played. fgm-field goals made. fga-field goals attempted. ftm-free throws made. fta-free throws attempted. reb-rebounds. pf-personal fouls. pts-points scored.
Halftime score-Hawaii 28, New Zealand 24.
3-point goals-NZ 4-19 (Akkerman 3-4, Paul 1-9, Sorra 0-1, Walker 0-5), UH 5-17 (Itoman 2-3, Howard 1-2, Macintyre 1-3, Kotilainen 1-6, Cockett 0-1, Evers 0-2).
Assists-NZ 16 (Erb 5), UH 13 (Cockett 6). Turnovers-NZ 19 (Walker 6), UH 19 (Cockett 4). Steals-NZ 9 (Walker 4), UH 7 (Cockett 2). Blocked shots-NZ 1 (Lattimore 1), UH 2 (Cockett 2). Technicals-none. A-495.
Officials: Yamasaki, Santiago, Souza.