Monday, November 23, 1998
Wahine dump
Jayhawks
They upset then-No. 17
By Al Chase
Kansas to capture the
Hawaiian Regent Classic
Star-BulletinThe Hawaii Wahine basketball team looked its first major challenge of the season straight in the eye, didn't flinch, and emerged victorious in the championship game of the Hawaiian Regent Classic.
With tournament MVP Raylene Howard scoring 21 points, the Wahine defeated then-No. 17 Kansas, 51-47, before 1,108 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.
Despite the victory, the Wahine didn't crack The Associated Press Top 25 poll, which was released after the game, but received votes. Kansas dropped to 19th in the poll.
The Jayhawks (2-2) started four players 6-foot-1 or taller, yet found themselves outrebounded in the first half, 21-16, and trailing, 32-18.
Sophomore forward Crystal Lee led UH with nine first-half rebounds.
Lynn Pride, Kansas' 6-2 All-America candidate, was held to two first-half points on 1-for-7 shooting.
The Jayhawks hit just five of 24 field-goal attempts (.208) in the first half, when they committed 11 of their 18 turnovers.
However, Goo had seen Kansas twice and knew the Jayhawks were a strong second-half team. He had a message for the Wahine at halftime.
"I told them they had accepted the challenge for the first 20 minutes," Goo said. "I told them they had to play better in the second half. I asked them to accept the challenge for another 20 minutes."
That looked doubtful for a while as the Jayhawks opened the second half with a 17-8 run, cutting the UH lead to three (38-35) on Jaclyn Johnson's bucket with 10 minutes to go.
BJ Itoman, who finished with 11 points, scored, but Jackson matched that with two free throws. Greeny then scored her sixth point, Itoman made two free throws and Howard canned one, then beat the shot clock with a jumper to give UH a 47-39 lead with 3:33 to play.
Two more Howard free throws and an Itoman basket were enough to hold off Kansas down the stretch.
The victory will be big in terms of confidence for the Wahine, but it is very early in the season.
"It doesn't mean that much. We're 3-0,"' Goo said. "The thing that is most important for the coaches is that we played better in each game.
"We played a better team tonight and we missed shots and had some turnovers, but they played hard every night.
"The keys tonight were the way we rebounded, our ability to stop their inside game and the way we handled their pressure defense."
Opponents tried everything to rattle Itoman in the tournament. Short, quick guards, medium-sized players with long arms, even the 6-2 Pride took a shot, but none of it fazed Itoman. The 5-5 UH floor general was unstoppable.
Minnesota 64, UMass 56: Sonja Robinson and Theresa LeCuyer each scored 16 points as the Golden Gophers (2-2) defeated the Minutewomen (1-4) in the third-place game.
Yolanda Rayside led UMass with 15 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Sonja Robinson, Minnesota; Jacklyn Johnson, Kansas; Lynn Pride, Kansas; BJ Itoman, Hawaii; Raylene Howard (MVP), Hawaii.
Jayhawks (2-2 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Pride 36 4 18 1 2 3 4 9 Johnson 29 2 9 4 4 12 4 8 Sanford 18 1 1 0 1 3 3 2 Jackson 27 2 5 2 2 0 1 7 Robbins 29 5 10 4 4 7 1 17 Pruitt 16 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 Reves 22 1 3 0 0 5 4 2 Scott 16 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 Geoffroy 5 1 3 0 0 1 1 2 Fletcher 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 3 Totals 200 16 51 11 13 37 21 47Wahine (3-0 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Lee 32 0 9 2 2 10 1 2 Howard 35 6 10 9 12 1 3 21 Liu 34 1 5 2 3 5 3 4 Itoman 35 3 12 4 5 1 2 11 Evers 38 2 4 0 0 3 2 5 Forsberg 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 M.-Ruscoe 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kohler 6 1 2 0 1 2 2 2 Greeny 14 3 4 0 0 4 2 6 Team 4 Totals 200 16 46 17 23 30 15 51Halftime score--Hawaii 32, Kansas 18.3-point goals--Kansas 4-13 (Robbins 3-6, Jackson 1-1, Pruitt 0-1, Scott 0-1, Pride 0-4), UH 2-13 (Evers 1-2, Itoman 1-5, Greeny 0-1, Howard 0-1, Lee 0-4).
Assists--Kansas 8 (Johnson, Robbins, Sanford 2), UH 9 (Lee 3). Turnovers--Kansas 18, UH 12. Steals--Kansas 6 (Robbins 3), UH 8 (Itoman 3). Blocked shots--Kansas 3 (Geoffroy, Johnson, Pride), UH 2 (Liu 2). A--1,858.
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