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UH women host
struggling Wolf Pack

Probably starters

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By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com

The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine will be out to complete a sweep of Western Athletic Conference opponents on their current three-game home stand when they host Nevada tonight.

The Wolf Pack will attempt to win their first conference game and end a frustrating losing streak.

Nevada has lost eight consecutive games, seven in conference play, but the last two were very tough to swallow. The Wolf Pack just missed upsetting Southern Methodist at home, then dropped a tight game at San Jose State on Thursday night, 63-60.

WAHINE BASKETBALL When: Today, 7:15 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: Live, KFVE-TV (Channel 5) Radio: Live, 1420-AM Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu Tickets: All seats general admission. $7 adults, $6 seniors, $4 for children (age 4-17) and UH students. Parking: $3

UH assistant Gavin Petersen, watching the Nevada-SMU tape for the first time late Tuesday afternoon, said, "You look at the tape and you would think the Wolf Pack won the way they played."

Instead, they lost by five points.

Nevada's top three scorers -- center Kate Smith (15 points per game) and guards Ashley Bastian (13.5 ppg) and Laura Ingham (13.5 ppg) -- have a better output than UH's top three scorers. Ingham is way ahead of everyone in the conference with 134 assists. Bastian is a 46 percent shooter from beyond the arc, connecting on 64 of 134 treys.

Smith, at 6-foot-2, also shoots 3s and tends to play away from the basket, which makes for interesting matchup possibilities. Do the UH coaches keep 6-5 Christen Roper on Smith, or turn that chore over to 6-2 Natasja Allen and allow Roper to remain closer to rebound territory?

Another challenge for the Hawaii defenders is covering Ingham, who UH head coach Vince Goo calls the quickest point guard his team has faced this season.

"Ingham is fast up and down the floor, quick with her first two steps, and she shoots the 3," Goo said. "They also have quickness at some other spots."

So, UH is playing a team with a veteran center who can score, two guards who can score -- either by penetrating or from the perimeter -- a team that turns the ball over just three times a game more than Hawaii, and rebounds. Yet, the Wolf Pack are winless in the WAC, and that concerns Goo.

"They are dangerous and hungry," he said.

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Probable starters

NEVADA (7-10, 0-7)

		Ht.	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.
G	Ashley Bastian (Sr.)	5-8	13.5	1.6	2.1
G	Laura Ingham (Sr.)	5-4	13.5	5.1	7.9
G	Katie Saltmarch (Fr.)	5-10	2.9	2.2	0.6
F	April Bankston (So.)	6-1	8.9	6.1	0.6
C	Kate Smith (Sr.)	6-3	15.0	5.9	1.8

HAWAII (10-5, 4-2)

		Ht.	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.
G	Michelle Gabriel (Sr.)	5-6	5.5	2.5	2.7
G	April Atuaia (Jr.)	5-10	9.8	5.1	2.5
F	Natasja Allen (Sr.)	6-2	10.9	6.3	1.0
F	Jade Abele (Soph.)	5-11	11.5	3.5	4.3
C	Christen Roper (Sr.)	6-5	11.3	8.5	0.9

Notes: The Wahine lead the series 16-2. ... In the last meeting, UH edged Nevada 45-41 at the WAC tournament on March 6. ... Roper needs four blocked shots to move into second place on the all-time WAC career list. She is within sight of the all-time mark of 268, held by BYU's Debbie Diamond. Roper also became the first UH player to foul out of a game this season when she was tagged with her fifth foul with 2:42 to play in the FSU game. ... In 17 games Nevada has both scored and surrendered 1,080 points.

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UH Athletics