By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Nani Cocket rips the ball away from
San Jose State's Kari Steele.
The University of Hawaii women's basketball team might not have looked particularly sharp against San Jose State last night, but the only reflection that mattered was on the Special Events Arena scoreboard. The 69-51 victory kept the Wahine a half-game behind WAC Pacific Division leader San Diego State at 7-1, 14-4 overall.
"We struggled all night and it got kind of ugly," said Hawaii junior forward Brandi Ashby after her second straight double-double game (10 points, 11 rebounds). "We were trying to do some new things because everybody's seen everything we have.
"We started out in a man (defense) and when Vince (UH coach Goo) called timeout, he said, 'OK, go back to what you're used to.' "
That was with 8:52 left in the first half with the Wahine leading, 16-15. It took a few minutes before Hawaii's match-up zone kicked in and San Jose took what would be its last lead at 19-18.
Sparked by two bullet feeds for lay-ups from Nani Cockett to BJ Itoman, the Wahine took off on an 11-2 run over the final 5:30 of the half. The Spartans, who fell to 6-13, 1-7, never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Hawaii hopes to have some of its defensive wrinkles ironed out in time for tomorrow's game with Fresno State. The Wahine eked out a 61-60 overtime win over the Bulldogs in Fresno to open the WAC season.
The Bulldogs were buried by host San Diego State last night, 70-41.
"If we play like we did tonight, we'll lose to Fresno," Goo said. "Defensively, we'll have to play better. I thought we did a pretty good job rebounding. Brandi did a heck of a job on the boards. She can be a thorn."
A confrontation with Ashby led to Spartan guard Kim Miller fouling out on two consecutive technical fouls with 5:30 left in the game. Miller apparently thought Ashby had tripped her and she responded with an obscenity that led to the first technical foul. She then said something to an official and got her second technical, and fifth personal.
Itoman sank all four free throws, pushing Hawaii's lead to 57-39. She finished as the game's high scorer with 17.
"Obviously, I told her (Miller) not to do that again, ever, ever," San Jose State coach Karen Smith said. "We were doing a lot of good things in this game and I thought, with five minutes left, we were still in it. It was a 14-point game before those technicals. All of a sudden, it's 20. That was a big turning point."
Hawaii turned the momentum its way by keying on senior guard Kari Steele, the Spartans' leading scorer. Steele didn't score until there were 12 seconds left in the first half. She finished with 13 points, including her 49th 3-pointer of the season, tying the San Jose State single-season record.
"Stopping Steele was part of our plan," Ashby said. "We were worried about her and No. 44 (Erin Spalding). She had 16 against us the last time but didn't do much tonight."
The only other Spartan in double figures was Natasha Johnson with 10 points. San Jose State, which shot 33 percent from the floor, was limited to one basket and four free throws during an eight-and-a-half-minute span midway through the second half.
"Kari had a big defensive challenge, guarding Nani tonight, so we weren't expecting 20 points out of her," Smith said of Steele. "Their penetration hurt us and our defensive rotation was not good, especially in the second half when we got hurt on the back-door cuts."
"Hawaii has gotten better since we played them. It's allowing Nani to come in and play more of the open game she likes. That makes them a better team."
Cockett, who played all but the final two minutes, struggled with her shooting and finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Raylene Howard added 12 points and senior Kendis Leeburg had 10.
"Everyone just looks at her points but she's so important to us with the other things she does," Goo said of Cockett. "Even when she's not scoring, she's penetrating, drawing the defense, rebounding, dishing off. She valuable more than for just her scoring."
Hawaii 69, San Jose State 51
Spartans (6-13 overall, 1-7 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Steele 40 4 12 3 3 4 4 13 Miller 26 1 4 0 0 5 5 2 Campbell 26 2 6 0 0 2 2 4 Johnson 33 4 17 0 0 3 3 10 Spalding 19 4 6 1 2 4 4 9 Irving 17 4 7 0 0 2 2 9 Barrett 12 1 5 0 0 1 1 2 Hanson 12 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 Turner 8 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 Williams 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Team 1 Totals 200 20 60 6 9 35 24 51
Wahine (14-4 overall, 7-1 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Cockett 38 3 9 3 3 10 0 10 Itoman 28 5 9 7 8 3 0 17 Leeburg 30 4 11 2 2 5 2 10 Ashby 28 5 7 0 1 11 1 10 Kotilainen 19 1 4 1 2 1 0 3 Howard 17 4 5 4 5 2 3 12 Wautlet 12 2 4 1 3 2 3 5 Fujimoto 10 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Liu 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Macintyre 6 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 Forsberg 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 Team 2 Totals 200 24 50 20 27 38 11 69Key: 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 33, San Jose State 23.
3-point goals-SJS 5-17 (Johnson 2-7, Steele 2-8, Irving 1-1, Miller 0-1). UH 1-7 (Cockett 1-2, Howard 0-1, Itoman 0-2, Kotilainen 0-2).
Assists-SJS 17 (Miller 7, Johnson 6), UH 19 (Itoman 6, Cockett 5). Turnovers-SJS 22 (Steele 5), UH 20 (Cockett 7). Steals-SJS 13 (Steele 5, Johnson 4), UH 16 (Itoman 6). Blocked shots-SJS 0, UH 4 (Fujimoto 2).
Technicals-Miller (2).
Att-1,013. Officials: Strone, Hermann, Kau.