Thursday, March 5, 1998
Associated Press
New Mexico's Katie Kern (33) and UH's Kylie Page,
left, and Brandi Ashby fight for the ball.
Start stalls Wahine
After being outscored 42-19
By Al Chase
in the first half, UH falls to UNM
in a WAC quarterfinal
Star-BulletinLAS VEGAS -- Cough, sputter, cough, sputter, cough, sputter.
That's the sound of the Wahine engine as it desperately struggled to fire on all cylinders in the first half yesterday.
Vroom, vroom, vroom.
Listen as the University of New Mexico roared off the starting line like a perfectly tuned top-fuel dragster.
The Lobos (24-6) also had enough in their tank to weather 16th-ranked Hawaii's second-half rally in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.
UNM 's 79-65 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center advanced the Lobos into tomorrow's semifinal against Mountain Division rival Colorado State.
The disappointed Wahine (24-3) come home earlier than planned, with the future of their season resting in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee. Decision day is Sunday.
With starting guard Sonya Bryant out with a leg injury, UNM head coach Don Flanagan didn't finalize his game strategy until yesterday morning. He didn't tell his team of his plans until 10 minutes before the game.
Flanagan went with three post players -- 6-foot-2 junior forward Katie Kern, 6-0 freshman forward Jennifer Williams and 6-3 senior center Anita Vuletic. They played in a triangle and proved almost unstoppable offensively in the opening half while defensively negating the Wahine power game.
"It was a surprise and I think it surprised our coaches too," Wahine co-captain Brandi Ashby said. "It was a smart move."
"They scouted us Monday and probably didn't expect us to start three post players," Flanagan said. "We felt with a zone defense and three big players down low we could stop their drives. They drive the ball very well and are creative going to the basket. We wanted to cut down on that."
The Lobos went 4-for-5 on layups and 8-for-15 on other field-goal attempts in the paint in the opening half. They outrebounded UH, 21-11, had 10 assists to two for the Wahine and committed four less turnovers in building a 42-19 halftime lead. That sealed the outcome, despite a furious UH rally.
Hawaii couldn't rebound from a disastrous first half vs. New Mexico: Half bad
Halftime score: New Mexico 42, Hawaii 19
The Wahine managed just one offensive rebound in the half, and season lows were set for shooting percentage (.261) and points (19).
"It just seemed like nothing was being created in the first half," UH point guard BJ Itoman said. "It hurt to get only one shot and come back on defense. It was a pretty long first half for us.
"We tried to play hard the whole game. What was frustrating was seeing shot after shot go in the net for them."
"I thought we had some good looks at the basket, but they just weren't going in. It's as simple as that," said UH center Raylene Howard, who gave the Wahine a short-lived 2-0 lead.
Williams scored a career- and game-high 20 points. All of her 11 shots came from within five feet of the basket. Six-foot senior guard Abby Garchek had 15 points and Kern (6-for-6 from the floor) 13.
Vuletic scored nine points, but was a force on defense, constantly harassing the Wahine inside. She had the only blocked shot in the game and had two steals.
"We made it easy for their defense in the first half. We spread the floor (to combat UNM's zone), but didn't hit the perimeter shots and had no rebounding," UH head coach Vince Goo said.
"Their offense, their inside game had a lot to do with what happened in the first half.
"Our players knew they had played their worst half of the season offensively and defensively. There were no challenges at halftime. They knew what they had to do. I'm proud of them. It was a helluva comeback."
The Wahine were 8-for-11 on 3-pointers in the second half. Itoman made all three attempts, Howard connected on her two tries, Page was 2-for-3 and Kyla Evers made one trey.
But the closest UH got was within seven points with 3:22 to play.
"We've relied on our 'D' all year, but they kept putting the ball in the hole," Howard said.
Flanagan said it wasn't a case of the Lobos having to prove something against a ranked team.
"This is the WAC tournament and we just wanted to advance. And yes, it was a big win."
All five UH starters scored in double figures, led by Kylie Page with 15 points.
Nani Cockett sprained her left ankle with 11:03 left. After trainer Tara Humphreys applied what amounted to a tape cast, Cockett returned to play in obvious pain.
At Las Vegas
Lady Lobos (24-6 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Kern 36 6 6 1 2 4 2 13 Williams 31 6 11 8 12 11 3 20 Vuletic 37 4 9 1 2 9 2 9 Stukes 37 3 8 2 2 5 1 10 Garchek 38 5 16 3 4 5 3 15 Heckroth 12 0 1 3 4 1 3 3 Sanchez 9 4 7 1 2 0 0 9 Team 5 Totals 200 28 58 19 28 40 14 79Wahine (24-3 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Page 34 6 10 0 0 3 3 15 Ashby 33 2 9 6 8 9 4 10 Howard 37 5 10 0 0 0 4 12 Cockett 35 3 12 6 8 2 3 12 Itoman 39 5 6 0 0 5 2 13 Forsberg 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Kotilainen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Liu 6 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 Evers 9 1 1 0 2 1 1 3 Wautlet 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Team 2 Totals 200 22 49 12 18 24 20 65Halftime score--New Mexico 42, Hawaii 19.3-point goals--New Mexico 4-17 (Stukes 2-5, Garchek 2-9, Vuletic 0-2, Sanchez 0-1), Hawaii 9-18 (Itoman 3-3, Page 3-6, Howard 2-4, Evers 1-1, Forsberg 0-1, Cockett 0-3).
Assists--New Mexico 17 (Stukes 6), Hawaii 12 (Cockett 4, Itoman 4). Turnovers--New Mexico 14, Hawaii 18. Steals--New Mexico 8 (Stukes 5), Hawaii 6 (Cockett 3). Blocked shots--New Mexico 1 (Vuletic 1), Hawaii 0.
A--3,502. Officials--Mike Brooks, Connie Pardue, Randy Campbell.
1997-98 Wahine Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
