By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Brandi Ashby, left, and Nani Cockett both go
airborne to defend against DePaul's Mfon Udoka in the
Wahine's tournament-clinching victory last night.
Cockett steps up
for Wahine
Despite a sprained ankle,
By Al Chase
she leads Hawaii over DePaul and
wins the tourney MVP award
Star-BulletinWhen Nani Cockett awoke yesterday, there wasn't much pain at all in her sprained right ankle, something that would have pained the DePaul Blue Demons had they known. Once, while walking on campus, there was a moment when she thought she might not be able to play in last night's Hawaii Invitational women's basketball championship game against DePaul at the Special Events Arena.
But she did play and led four Wahine in double figures with 20 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and a steal as UH defeated the Blue Demons, 74-61.
"She would have to have been half dead not to play," said Raylene Howard, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds.
"Nani showed a lot of courage," UH head coach Vince Goo said. "The trainer and doctor said she could play. I told her to be very honest and tell me if she was up to it because her health was the No. 1 priority.
"She's a fifth-year senior and, with her maturity, you know you can trust her."
When the Wahine (6-1) had their shootaround a little after 2 p.m. yesterday and Cockett was participating, it must have provided a boost. For the first time in several games, Hawaii took a lead early and not only managed to hang on to it, but slowly increased it.
Howard, who had a tough first half (1-for-6 from the field) hit a jumper with 13:29 left in the opening period to break a 9-9 tie. Brandi Ashby's jumper upped the lead to 10 (29-19) with 6:15 to play.
In an effort to stem the blahs the Wahine have suffered during the last few minutes before halftime, Goo modified his substitution strategy a bit and rested regulars before the five-minute mark.
"We told the kids not to lose the lead during the last four minutes," Goo said.
Two more jumpers from Ashby (11 points, seven rebounds) and five points from Cockett left the Wahine with a 38-29 advantage at the half.
Howard began to find the range early in the second half and the Wahine were able to offset some hot shooting by DePaul's Fuchsia Forrester, who scored eight of the Blue Demons' (3-3) 11 points during the first eight minutes.
"I didn't start very well and it kind of hit me hard the way I was playing," Howard said. "The team was encouraging at halftime. Brandi and Nani were very supportive and I got my confidence back."
Goo asked his team to play smart in the second half, to realize the Blue Demons were in a zone because of foul trouble and to take the ball to the basket.
"Sometimes we look a little ugly when we go to the power game, but it pays off," Goo said. "Our guards were only 5-for-18 at the half and we told them we needed better than that."
And, unlike the night before, the Wahine communicated last night.
"Everyone was talking, on the floor, on the bench," Cockett said.
When Cockett was announced as the tournament's MVP, she went the length of the Wahine bench to high five her teammates before accepting the award.
"MVP is just a name. As far as I'm concerned, it is a team thing," she said.
Turning in another solid performance was Kylie Page, who scored 16 points and led the Wahine with nine rebounds.
Mfron Udoka led DePaul with 21 points and 21 rebounds, but, as DePaul coach Doug Bruno noted in a chat with Goo after the game, "She had chances because we missed so many shots."
The Blue Demons were 25-of-75 from the floor (.333), 8-for-20 from the free-throw line and 3-for-30 from 3-point range.
Arkansas State 67, San Francisco 57: In the third-place game, 5-10 sophomore guard Julie Hagood scored 22 of her game-high 26 points in the second half to spark the Lady Indians' (6-3) rally from a five-point deficit at intermission.
Denise Woods led the Lady Dons (2-5) with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: BJ Itoman, Hawaii; Julie Hagood, Arkansas State; Denise Woods, San Francisco, Fuchsia Forrester, DePaul. Most Valuable Player: Nani Cockett, Hawaii.
At Special Events Arena Box score
Hawaii 74, DePaul 61
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Udoka 30 9 16 3 7 21 5 21 Forrester 32 7 24 2 4 5 4 16 Burge 22 1 4 2 4 4 4 4 McDonald 27 2 11 0 1 2 2 4 Watson 37 3 8 0 0 0 1 8 McManaman 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Krumrei 24 1 6 0 0 2 3 3 Fitzgerald 26 2 5 1 4 7 3 5 Novick 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 Team 5 Totals 200 25 75 8 20 47 25 61
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Page 37 6 9 3 6 9 3 16 Howard 34 6 12 5 5 6 2 18 Ashby 32 3 7 5 6 7 4 11 Cockett 33 6 13 8 8 5 1 20 Itoman 36 2 6 3 4 3 2 8 Forsberg 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Kotilainen 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Lee 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Petersen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Evers 8 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 Wautlet 10 0 3 1 1 2 2 1 Team 3 Totals 200 23 52 25 30 37 18 74Halftime score--Hawaii 38, DePaul 29.3-point goals--DePaul 3-20 (Watson 2-6, Krumrei 1-6, Forrester 0-2, McDonald 0-6), UH 3-9 (Itoman 1-1, Howard 1-2, Page 1-3, Cockett 0-3).
Assists--DePaul 14 (Forrester, McDonald, Watson 4), UH 12 (Itoman 5). Turnovers--DePaul 14, UH 18. Steals--DePaul 9 (Fitzgerald, Krumrei 2), UH 3 (Cockett, Evers, Wautlet). Blocked shots--DePaul 5 (Burge 4), UH 6 (Cockett 4).
A--746. Officials: Gonzalez, Kau, Hayashi.
San Francisco: Wanless 1-8 1-2 3, Birincioglu 1-4 0-0 2, Woods 10-21 1-5 21, Madkins 2-12 0-0 4, Huff 6-13 1-2 14, Tasnadi 3-11 0-0 8, Jennings 1-1 0-0 3, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Webb 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 25-77 3-9 57.
Arkansas St.: Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Towne 4-11 1-2 10, Muirhead 3-7 1-2 7, Evans 3-7 0-0 6, Hagood 9-16 6-6 26, Dudic 3-9 1-2 7, Soukupova 1-4 1-2 3, Bradshaw 2-5 0-0 4, Chatman 2-4 0-2 4. Totals 27-67 10-16 67.
Halftime--San Francisco 29, Arkansas St. 24.
3-point goals--USF 4-21 (Tasnadi 2-9, Jennings 1-1, Huff 1-2, Harris 0-1, Madkins 0-4, Wanless 0-4), ASU 3-15 (Hagood 2-6, Towne 1-4, Bradshaw 0-1, Evans 0-1, Soukupova 0-1, Dudic 0-2). Total fouls--USF 16, ASU 13. Rebounds--USF 49 (Woods 17), ASU 45 (Evans 9). Assists--USF 13 (Huff 5), ASU 8 (Bradshaw, Dudic 2). Steals--USF 5 (Harris, Huff, Madkins, Tasnadi, Wanless), ASU 8 (Hagood, Smith 2). Blocked shots--USF 4 (Tasnadi 2), ASU 1 (Muirhead). Turnovers--USF 16, ASU 14. Officials--Dubas, LaBenz, Nunokawa.
1997-98 Wahine Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
