Friday, February 13, 1998
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Kylie Page drives past Texas Christian's
Shonda Mack during last night's game.
Page and Howard
By Dave Reardon
pace the streaking Wahine
Special to the Star-BulletinKylie Page made a bold fashion statement last night. She and her University of Hawaii basketball teammates spoke rather loudly with their defense, too. "I thought that was just a road-trip thing," point guard BJ Itoman said of Page's interesting hairdo. "I guess she likes to be original."
Coach Vince Goo also tried something new. He had the Wahine get in Texas Christian's hair with a tough man-to-man defense from the get-go. The result was a 74-52 victory for No. 16 Hawaii, its 17th consecutive win and 11th without a loss in the Western Athletic Conference.
"I'm superstitious," Page said of her coif that takes roommate Hedy Liu one hour to prepare. "I wore it this way for TCU and SMU on the road and we won. I don't think anyone else likes it."
As far as the 2,437 spectators at the Stan Sheriff Center were concerned, it was a good hair night for Page. She sparked the Hawaii offense with 11 of her 17 points in the first half. Raylene Howard, the other Wahine forward from Australia, was less flamboyant, but just as effective with a game-high 21 points.
They scored the first three baskets in a game in which UH never trailed. It was a far cry from last month in Fort Worth, Texas, when the Lady Frogs led by 12 late and the Wahine had to rally to win in overtime.
"I like it a lot better when they play zone," TCU coach Mike Peterson said. "Tonight they got on us a lot more early. We're playing freshmen at guard. They're going to be very good, but they're freshmen."
Twins guards Amy and Jill Sutton led the Lady Frogs with 12 and 11 points, respectively, but they also combined for only two assists and five turnovers. As a team, TCU had 20 turnovers.
"They just picked us apart with their passing the first time we played," Itoman said. "Today it helped that we went the whole game man-to-man."
Brandy Ashby, who had a career-high 29 points at TCU, scored 15 and had a game-high nine rebounds. Nani Cockett added 14 points, but admitted to a sub-par performance.
"In my four years, I don't think I've had one good game (against TCU)," Cockett said. "This was my last chance to break the curse, but I didn't do as well as I wanted to. I'm glad we've got four other players who can score."
She found little solace in breaking UH's career record for blocked shots -- formerly held by Jeanne Wade-Harris -- with three checks last night, giving her 136. Cockett also is the Wahine career leader in steals and 3-point baskets made and attempted. She is second in points and assists.
Cockett and three other seniors (Ashby, Destree Wautlet, Liisa Kotilainen) suit up for their final Wahine home game Saturday against Southern Methodist.
Then it's a long road trip that includes the WAC Tournament.
"We've got a lot of catching up to do with school and other things before we hit the road for 20 days," Goo said.
Box Score
Hawaii 74, Texas Christian 52
At Stan Sheriff Center
Lady Frogs (13-10 overall; 4-8 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Mack 22 1 4 0 0 1 2 2 Francis 28 1 2 2 2 5 3 4 Clayton 26 1 4 2 2 8 4 4 Garcia 20 3 9 1 2 0 2 7 J. Sutton 32 4 12 0 0 1 0 11 A. Sutton 28 4 13 3 4 3 3 12 Usher 8 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 Spenser 17 2 4 0 0 2 2 4 Ferguson 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Meadows 16 2 3 4 4 5 4 8 Team 4 Totals 200 18 53 12 14 31 20 52Wahine (21-1 overall; 11-0 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Page 35 6 11 4 4 5 2 17 Howard 36 8 12 2 2 7 3 21 Ashby 36 4 8 7 8 9 2 15 Cockett 33 4 13 5 6 6 0 14 Itoman 34 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 Forsberg 6 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 Kotilainen 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 Lee 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Petersen 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 Liu 4 0 2 0 3 3 1 0 Evers 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Wautlet 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 Team 3 Totals 200 24 54 21 24 37 11 74Halftime score--Hawaii 33, Texas Christian 23.3-point goals--TCU 4-9 (J. Sutton 3-6, A. Sutton 1-2, Spenser 0-1), UH 5-17 (Howard 3-4, Page 1-3, Cockett 1-5, Evers 0-1, Lee 0-1, Itoman 0-3).
Assists--TCU 9 (Mack 2), UH 16 (Itoman 7, Page 2, Howard 2, Ashby 2, Cockett 2, Petersen 1). Turnovers--TCU 20 (Clayton 4), UH 14 (Page 4, Itoman 4, Cockett 3, Ashby 2, Evers 1). Steals--TCU 7 (Mack 2), UH 11 (Page 4, Cockett 3, Howard 2, Itoman 2). Blocked shots--TCU 1 (Clayton 1), UH 7 (Ashby 4, Cockett 3).
Technicals--Ashby.
A--2,473 turnstile, 2,734 tickets issued. Officials: Gaxiola, Brooks, Whatford.
1997-98 Wahine Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
