Wednesday, February 4, 1998
Wahine wallop Aztecs
Hawaii wins by 37 to run
Star-Bulletin staff
its unbeaten streak to 15 gamesSAN DIEGO -- The focus the University of Hawaii women's basketball team maintained on its three-game trek through California resulted in the most decisive victory of the trip last night. With Kylie Page's 28 points leading four starters in double figures, Hawaii ran its 1997-98 road record to 5-0 with an 85-48 trouncing of San Diego State before 598 spectators at Cox Arena.
It was the 10th consecutive victory in Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division play and 15th straight overall for UH (19-1, 10-0), ranked No. 18 in the USA/Today poll and No. 20 by the Associated Press.
"The coaching staff is totally satisfied with the way the players really got focused on this trip," UH head coach Vince Goo said. "We played very well for three games. We've had teams that played well two out of three before, but we came in and played hard against a team we beat by 50 earlier."
Except for the last two minutes of the first half, when the Aztecs (7-12 overall, 3-7 WAC) cut a 15-point UH lead to 11, Goo had only superlatives for his players. He was especially happy with the way the reserves ran the offense and played defense late in the game.
This was a reversal of the sloppy ending at San Jose State on Saturday.
"Tonight the reserves really closed the game well," Goo said.
Brandi Ashby, who scored 14 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds, broke a 6-6 tie with a turnaround jumper at 15:27 of the first half. UH spent the remainder of the game building its lead.
A 3-pointer by SDSU's Charley Murray early in the second half cut the lead to 10 points. But seven minutes later, the Wahine led by 30 after a 25-5 run. Ashby scored eight points, BJ Itoman five and Page and Raylene Howard four each while Nani Cockett, who finished with 18 points, had three assists in the outburst.
The Aztecs tried to attack the Wahine with full-court pressure, but it didn't work.
"They finally called it off about midway through the second quarter because we were getting so many easy layups," Goo said.
The Wahine ran their power offense against SDSU's man-to-man defense the entire game. Able to penetrate consistently, UH scored 36 points on layups and another 22 from the paint.
The victory margin surprised Goo.
"I thought they would be tougher at home," he said. "You have to give our players a lot of credit. The coaching staff prepared them well, whether it was take away the right hand, or take away the jumper. Our kids knew how to defense the Aztecs and played very smart."
UH's next game is against Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Women
Hawaii 85, San Diego State 48
At San Diego
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Page 35 11 19 6 6 6 1 28 Howard 31 5 11 2 2 9 0 12 Ashby 29 7 11 0 1 10 2 14 Cockett 33 7 12 4 6 2 1 18 Itoman 31 3 3 0 0 5 0 7 Forsberg 9 1 2 0 0 4 0 2 Kotilainen 4 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 Lee 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 Petersen 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Liu 6 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 Evers 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Wautlet 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Team 8 Totals 200 35 62 14 17 45 12 85
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Harris 26 1 9 0 0 1 4 3 Bundage 24 1 2 0 0 5 1 2 Bale 38 6 17 6 7 3 1 18 Sledge 34 1 8 0 0 0 2 2 Murray 36 1 5 4 4 2 3 7 Rucker 11 1 8 0 0 4 2 3 Fredrick 17 2 4 0 0 4 2 4 Matthews 13 4 7 1 2 4 1 9 Team 7 Totals 200 17 60 11 13 30 16 48Halftime score--Hawaii 37, San Diego State 26.3-point goals--UH 1-5 (Itoman 1-1, Howard 0-1, Cockett 0-1, Page 0-2), SDSU 3-16 (Harris 1-1, Murray 1-4, Rucker 1-4, Mathews 0-1, Sledge 0-6).
Assists--UH 18 (Cockett 8, Itoman 6, Howard 2, Page 1, Forsberg 1), SDSU 9 (Bale 4). Turnovers--UH 17 (Cockett 5, Page 3, Howard 3, Itoman 2, Wautlet 2, Evers 1, Petersen 1), SDSU 18 (Sledge, Murray 4). Steals--UH 11 (Cockett 4, Page 2, Ashby 2, Itoman 1, Forsberg 1, Kotilainen 1), SDSU 7 (Bundage 2, Bale 2, Sledge 2). Blocked shots--UH 5 (Cockett 2, Wautlet 2, Howard 1), SDSU 4 (Sledge 2). Technicals--None.
A--598. Officials: Caudle, Perlman, Stevens.
1997-98 Wahine Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
