Wednesday, January 23, 2002
[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Hawaii needs to continue playing this week they way it did against Tulsa last Saturday to stay among the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball leaders. UH looking to move up
in conference standingsBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Wahine reach the midpoint of the conference regular-season schedule after tomorrow's game against Nevada and Saturday's contest with Fresno State.
Rice (12-4, 6-1) and Tulsa (10-7, 5-2), the teams ahead of UH (11-4, 4-2), travel to Ruston, La., this week to play conference leader Louisiana Tech. Rice also plays at arch-rival Southern Methodist. If the Wahine take care of business at home, there might be two or three teams tied for second place when Saturday's results are known.
Wins this week would put the Wahine in a good frame of mind for the second half of league play which begins with a four-game, two-week road trip.
The Wolf Pack, who have a modest two-game winning streak, and the Bulldogs start the week with 3-4 league records and a desire to move into the upper half of the WAC standings.
Nevada (6-10, 3-4) is led by 6-foot-2 junior center Kate Smith, who averages 14.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and junior guard Laura Ingham who hands out 6.3 assists per game.
Ingham broke a 10-year-old WAC record last week when she had 17 assists in a victory over Texas-El Paso. She followed up with seven assists and six steals in a win over Boise State and was honored as WAC Player of the Week.
All-WAC guard Lindsay Logan triggers the Bulldogs' attack either by setting up a teammate for an open shot or by pumping in a 2 or 3-pointer herself. Logan leads the league with 47 treys and tops FSU with 16.8 points per game. All-WAC second-team pick Omelogo Udeze is next with a 12.2 average.
"These are teams we can go to their place and win, and they can come here and beat us. That's how good we can be and maybe how good they can be," UH coach Vince Goo said. "I think Nevada is a team in limbo and ready to break out."
Again, the Wahine will face two opponents with greater quickness, although UH should have a height advantage in both games.
To offset the quickness, the Wahine need to continue to play smart basketball, especially on defense. Goo is happy with the way the Wahine have made adjustments during games.
"This is especially true on defense when someone plays better than you expected them to," he said.
Hawaii will use the same starting lineup with Janka Gabrielova and April Atuaia at the guards, Karena Greeny on the wing, Natasja Allen at forward and Christen Roper at center.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
