ByKathrynBender, Star-Bulletin
The Wahine will depend on the play of Nani Cockett, left,
and Kendis Leeburg in their game against Rice tomorrow.
Hawaii and Rice appear to be twin daughters separated at birth in the delivery room of the expanded WAC. The mirror-image teams meet in tomorrow's 10:30 a.m. HST WAC Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals at the Thomas & Mack Center.
In their first season in the conference, both the Wahine (20-7) and Owls (16-10) made an immediate impact. It takes only a cursory glance at the scouting report to learn how the other half lived; the two tied for second place in their respective divisions via a balanced attack.
The game analysis by Hawaii coach Vince Goo and Rice's Cristy McKinney is little more than an echo. If both are correct in their evaluation, this contest could be decided in multiple overtimes.
Or it could be over quickly if the Wahine can't contain the Mountain Division Freshman of the Year, 5-foot-9 guard Marla Brumfield. Hawaii also has the potential to run away with the game if its Pacific Division Freshman of the Year, 5-11 forward Raylene Howard, gets hot.
"From what I've seen on tapes, we do a lot of similar things," said McKinney, who hopes to see her team end a two-game losing streak. "Howard has had huge games for them, (BJ) Itoman runs the team well and (Nani) Cockett's just a great player.
"We had two tough losses before this but I think our mental attitude is good. We had a bye, they've got a game under their belts here. You could look at it either way to find an advantage."
The Wahine would prefer to think they have the edge after yesterday's 67-52 win over Texas Christian. Senior center Kendis Leeburg scored 24 points, 15 in the second half, as the Wahine pulled away from a 22-22 halftime tie.
"We were taking good shots in the first half and they just weren't going down," said Leeburg, who hit 6 of 7 shots from the floor in the second half. "I was getting very frustrated because my shots weren't going in (4 of 10 in the first 20 minutes). We did a good job defensively, holding TCU to 22 points but we only had 22 points, too.
"I knew our team was playing hard, scrapping, chasing loose balls. When we do that, it's a sure sign that good things are going to happen."
What happened was Itoman deciding to take - and make - three 3-pointers en route to 13 points. Her first trey came with 18:38 left in the game, putting the Wahine ahead for good.
"We felt we needed to contain Nani and contain Kendis," said TCU coach Mike Peterson, who was coaching Hawaii's Big West rival, New Mexico State last season.
"We knew the third way they could get to us was with BJ. We did a pretty good job with Nani, not too good with Kendis in the second half. And then BJ began making the big plays when they needed them."
Peterson's Lady Frogs (13-14) closed to 56-50 on Buffy Ferguson's 3-pointer with 5:16 remaining. The Wahine responded with an 11-2 run to finish the game, limiting TCU to two free throws in holding the WAC's No. 2 team in scoring to its lowest point total of the season.
The Lady Frogs lost both their meetings during the regular season to Rice. Peterson said he expected tomorrow's Hawaii-Rice game to be a good one.
"Hawaii has a veteran team and they play well together," said Peterson, whose New Mexico State team was eliminated by Hawaii in the Big West Tournament last year. "Hawaii has size at the wing with Cockett and Howard that will give Rice problems. Rice is very athletic and very quick. These are comparable teams."
Yesterday, Hawaii shot a phenomenal 63 percent from the floor in the second half to give Goo his seventh 20-win season in 10 years. It was also his 199th career victory.
"I was happy with our defense today," said Goo.
"But Rice is another team that likes to run and they'll create problems for us. Their perimeter people are good, they're solid and big at the post and have a good bench."
Rice's front line measures 6-4, 6-3 and 6-feet, giving the Owls the rebounding advantage over the smaller Wahine. Rice is third in the WAC in rebounding margin (4.5) while Hawaii is 12th (minus-1.8).
"Rebounding has been the key for us every game," said Wahine assistant Da Houl.
"It's something we need to keep the players thinking about every game. But, when every game could be your last, it doesn't take much to remind them."
LAS VEGAS - Abby Garchek scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half Monday to pace the New Mexico Lady Lobos to a 70-59 win over Fresno State in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference women's tournament.The Lady Lobos (18-9) trailed 34-29 at halftime, but tied it 42-42 with 12:51 remaining, then opened a 52-45 lead over the next four minutes and were in control the rest of the way.
Anita Vuletic added 15 points and Katie Kern had 10 points and 12 rebounds for New Mexico.
Tamika Louis scored 16 for Fresno State (14-13), and Jessie Farias added 12.
BYU 70, Wyoming 60: Jumana Amer Salti led the Cougars' defense, helping force 29 turnovers against the Cowgirls (17-11).
Salti had a career high 11 rebounds and eight points.
Renae Hanson and Kari Gallup each added 13 points for BYU (11-17), which took the lead for good on Megan Jensen's jumper with 14 minutes left.
Jesseca Cross had 12 points for Wyoming.
"I'm pleased with the win but not with our performance,"said SMUcoach Rhonda Rompola.
Hawaii 67, Texas Christian 52
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Price 24 3 3 0 0 5 3 6 Hickman 40 3 13 6 6 15 3 14 Harps 16 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 Garcia 28 0 8 2 3 3 1 2 Wilson 40 5 16 5 5 2 1 16 Jenkins 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ferguson 26 5 13 3 3 3 4 14 Hayworth 24 0 1 0 0 6 3 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 200 16 56 16 17 38 17 52Wahine (20-7 overall; 13-4 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Ashby 32 2 6 0 0 6 2 4 Howard 22 4 4 2 3 1 3 10 Leeburg 34 10 17 4 6 9 3 24 Itoman 33 4 8 2 2 1 2 13 Cockett 40 4 12 0 1 8 2 9 Kotilainen 23 2 5 2 2 2 0 7 Fujimoto 8 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 Liu 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Macintyre 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Wautlet 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 200 26 55 10 14 35 15 67Key: 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 22, Texas Christian 22.
3-point goals-TCU 4-19 (Hickman 2-8, Ferguson 1-4, Wilson 1-6, Jenkins 0-1), UH 5-10 (Itoman 3-4, Cockett 1-3, Kotilainen 1-3).
Assists-TCU 5 (Price 3), UH 17 (Cockett 7). Turnovers-TCU 12, UH 9. Steals-TCU 4 (Ferguson, Harps, Hayworth, Wilson), UH 5 (Cockett, Kotilainen 2). Blocked shots-TCU 1 (Hayworth), UH 4 (Ashby 2).
A-Unavailable. Officials: Kim Balque, Mike Brooks, Kent Johnson.
New Mexico 70, Fresno St. 59New Mexico: Bryant 3-5 2-4 10, Garchek 9-15 2-4 21, Kern 2-9 6-8 10, Stukes 2-5 2-4 8, Vuletic 7-16 1-4 15, Hoover 0-1 0-0 0, Vaske 0-0 0-0 0, Cory 0-0 0-0 0, Nash 2-7 1-2 6, Traille 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 14-26 70.
Halftime-Fresno St. 34, New Mexico 29.
3-point goals-FSU 6-18 (Louis 4-7, Brown 0-3, Anderson 0-3, Farias 2-5), UNM 6-13 (Bryant 2-2, Garchek 1-2, Stukes 2-4, Nash 1-5). Fouled out-Young. Rebounds-FSU 33 (Young 8), UNM 46 (Kern 12). Assists-FSU 15 (Brown, Louis, Anderson 3), UNM 21 (Stukes 6). Total fouls-FSU 21, UNM 16.
Brigham Young 70, Wyoming 60Wyoming: Cross 5-16 2-2 12, Ingalls 4-12 3-4 11, Thompson 4-7 0-0 8, C. Stapp 3-17 2-5 9, Worman 2-2 0-0 5, T. Stapp 1-1 0-0 3, Sprod 1-5 2-2 4, Dulaney 0-0 0-0 0, Tomlin 2-4 4-5 8. Totals 22-64 13-18 60.
Halftime-Brigham Young 25, Wyoming 21.
3-point goals-BYU 3-14 (Hansen 1-2, Baum 0-5, Gallup 2-5, Jensen 0-1, Carmichael 0-1.), Wyoming 3-14 (Cross 0-4, C. Stapp 1-8, Worman 1-1, T. Stapp 1-1.). Fouled out-Henry. Rebounds-BYU 38 (Salti 11), Wyoming 49 (Cross, C. Stapp, 9). Assists-BYU 11 (Hansen, Baum, 3), Wyoming 13 (Sprod 4). Total fouls-BYU 19, Wyoming 23.
SMU76,San Jose State 52SMU: Brandl 5-10, 0-0, 12, Kennedy 6-12, 3-3, 15, Brassard 2-6, 1-2, 5, Blair 4-8, 0-0, 9, Ford 2-5, 0-0, 6, Woods 1-3, 0-1, 3, Truchlikova 6-10, 0-0, 16, Harris 1-1, 0-2, 2, Barber 1-2, 0-0, 2, Thomas 0-1, 0-0, 0, Johnson 0-4, 6-8, 6. Totals 28-62, 10-16, 76.
Halftime-SMU 36, San Jose St. 20. 3-Point goals-San Jose State 5-13 (Steele 4-8, Johnson 1-3, Miller 0-2). SMU 10-21 (Truchlikova 4-5, Ford 2-4, Brandl 2-5, Blair 1-2, Woods 1-2, Johnson 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-San Jose St. 29 (Irving 6), SMU 55 (Brandl 8). Assists-San Jose State 13 (Williams, Johnson, Spalding, Steele, Miller 2), SMU 22 (Blair 8). Total fouls-San Jose State 20, SMU 18. A-826.