WAHINE BASKETBALL PLAYBOOK
at Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tipoff: Tomorrow, 3 p.m., Donald W.Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Coaches: Hawaii, Vince Goo, 13th season (258-112, .697); Tulsa, Kathy McConnel-Miller, 1st season (9-13-0, .409).
Season records: Hawaii (9-1 WAC, 17-5 overall); Tulsa (5-4 WAC, 9-13 overall).
Series record: Hawaii leads the series, 3-0. In the last meeting, Jan. 22, 2000, the Wahine did not take the lead for good until 4:29 remained in a 68-63 victory at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Top players: Tulsa, Lila Osceola, 5-foot-10 senior forward (15.2 points and 4.5 rebounds a game); Kassie Pittman, 5-foot-8 senior guard (13.1 ppg, 3.4 steals a game); Denise Wagner, 6-1 junior center (8.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) ... Hawaii, Raylene Howard, 5-11 senior guard (17.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg); Kylie Galloway, 6-0 junior forward (13.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg); Kyla Evers, 5-8 senior guard (10.8 ppg, 3.6 assists a game, 2-0 steals a game); Hedy Liu, 5-11 senior forward (7.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg).
Interesting facts: The Golden Hurricane are 2-4 since starting the Western Athletic Conference schedule with a 3-0 record ... Hawaii has won eight consecutive games. During the streak the Wahine have shot .472 from the field while holding opponents to a .361 shooting percentage ... Hawaii leads the WAC in four categories, free throw percentage (.734), field goal percentage defense (.383), rebounding defense (39.4) and defensive rebounds (26.95) ... The Wahine improved seven places to No. 40 with its two victories in the unofficial RPI ranking by Collegiate Basketball this week. Southern Methodist (No. 49) is the only other WAC team in the top 100 ... Raylene Howard needs 47 more points to move into eighth place on the all-time WAC scoring list.
Game keys: The Wahine have to do a better job of defending Tulsa forward Lila Osceola on the inside. She scored a season-high 24 points against UH here. The Wahine tried to defend Osceola with height, to force her to shoot over people, but Dainora Puida got into foul trouble. Christen Roper did have some success at handling that task. Osceola is very good at drawing fouls against smaller players ... Hawaii also played kind of passive on defense in the game here and the Wahine need to be up on Tulsa's shooters ... Hawaii should make good use of its power game off the half-court offense. Thirty of UH's 68 points were scored in the paint in the last meeting ... Hawaii had twice as many turnovers as Tulsa and the Golden Hurricane scored 14 points off those miscues ... The Wahine boxed out well in the first game and enjoyed a 40-23 rebound advantage. They need to do that again and keep Tulsa from getting second and third attempts.
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By Al Chase, Star-Bulletin
RAINBOW BASKETBALL PLAYBOOK
vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tipoff: Tomorrow, 7:05 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center.
Coaches: Hawaii, Riley Wallace, 15th season (212-207, .505 ); Tulsa, Bill Self, 7th season (121-77, .611).
Season records: Hawaii (4-6 WAC, 15-8 overall); Tulsa (8-1 WAC, 23-2 overall).
Series records: Hawaii trails the all-time series with the Golden Hurricane, 2-4. Hawaii lost, 100-78, on Jan. 22 at Tulsa's Donald Reynolds Center. Hawaii and Tulsa split the 1997-98 series with each team winning at its home court.
Top players: Tulsa, David Shelton, 6-6 junior forward (13.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Greg Harrington, 6-2 sophomore guard (11.9 ppg, 3.5 apg), Eric Coley, 6-5 senior forward (11.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.4 apg). Hawaii, Marquette Alexander, 6-8 senior center (15.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg); Predrag Savovic, 6-6 sophomore guard (12.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.5 apg); Troy Ostler, 6-9 junior forward (11.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg).
Interesting facts: The Rainbows trailed by 11 (49-38) early in the second half in Tulsa but cut it to two (51-49) with 14:03 left on a steal and layup by Nerijus Puida. The Golden Hurricane then went on an 11-3 run that killed Hawaii's momentum. ...Tulsa is ranked No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and No. 15 in the Associated Press poll. ...Hawaii has won 13 of its last 15 games at Stan Sheriff Center. ...Alexander is playing his best basketball of the season. He has had five double-doubles this season, four in his last five games.
Game keys: Hawaii badly needs Savovic to snap out his two-game scoring slump. He has scored in single digits in his last two games. And Rainbows 7-foot backup center Todd Fields (6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal at SMU) could be a critical factor against Tulsa if he continues to establish himself as a force in the low post. ...Hawaii is tied with Tulsa for 15th in the NCAA in shooting percentage (48.5 percent). But the Rainbows must take better care of the ball. Hawaii, which committed 43 turnovers to opponents' 34 in the two recent road games, committed 21 turnovers to Tulsa's 14 on Jan. 22. ...Hawaii must continue to improve off the glass. The Rainbows have had 75 rebounds to opponents' 60 in the last two games. But they were blown off the glass, 40-25, in Oklahoma. ...Hawaii has the best defense in the WAC against the 3-pointer, based on all 23 games played, but is last in the WAC in 3-point goals made. The Rainbows must prevent Tulsa's Harrington, the top 3-point shooter in the WAC for the season with a 47 percent rate, from doing damage.
On the air: Broadcast live on KCCN radio (1420 AM) and KFVE TV (Channel 5).
RealAudio: Click here
By Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin
