Even if the University of Hawaii women's basketball team is heavily favored against UNLV tomorrow, the odds are still with the Lady Rebels.
The Wahine are 1-14 at Las Vegas, with UH's lone win coming last season. Hawaii coach Vince Goo likes his teams chances at running its win streak to five but "our history in Las Vegas is not good," he said. "I'd probably get better odds in the casino."
It might be difficult for Goo to get any takers. Hawaii is 8-1 in the WAC and battling to stay in the top two of the Pacific Division in order to earn a first-round bye in next month's conference tournament.
UNLV is 1-8 and struggling to make the top six in order to extend its season and qualify for the tournament. The Lady Rebels would like to have the home-court advantage for the WAC Tournament, which is in Las Vegas.
UNLV gets a shot at that tomorrow in front of an anticipated sold-out South Gym crowd of 2,500. First-year coach LaDonna McClain has quickly learned about Las Vegas' attraction for the Wahine.
"Hawaii is an exciting game for us and has always been a big draw," said the UNLV coach. "We're struggling, don't have the guns to compete right now. For us to have a chance, we need to slow them down and we have to score."
The Wahine won the Jan. 11 meeting with the Lady Rebels, 77-59, at the Special Events Arena. McClain said she was particularly impressed with Hawaii's sophomore guard BJ Itoman, who has since turned up her scoring output, averaging 10.2 points.
Junior guard Nani Cockett leads Hawaii with an 18.7-point average, second-best in the WAC. Senior center Kendis Leeburg is averaging 14.6 points.
"I think we've been doing a lot of good things on offense and are executing well," said Goo. "When we played UNLV in the first round, they penetrated well. We need to go to work defensively and box out on the boards. Hopefully, we'll make it two in a row (in Las Vegas)."
Tomorrow: Hawaii (15-4, 8-1) at UNLV (3-17, 1-8), 5 p.m.