The Hawaii women's basketball team started practice last October with traditional high expectations beginning with at least a 20-win season. Wahine hopes died
on the road this yearBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comWinning the Western Athletic Conference title, after finishing as runner-up the past two seasons, and securing a berth in the NCAA Tournament would be logical additional goals if the expected success was achieved during the regular season.
The 2002-03 campaign did not unfold that way despite a solid start. The expectations proved loftier than what the Rainbow Wahine (16-14) were able to achieve.
"I thought we had a good preseason. We had a 6-3 record against good competition," said Vince Goo following his 16th season as Hawaii head coach. "We had a good record, not only from the standpoint of who we lost to (three Top 25 teams), but because of some of the teams we beat."
After starting the conference schedule with two home victories, the Wahine left for the mainland on their first road trip, the one Goo thought would be the toughest of the season with games at Southern Methodist and Louisiana Tech.
A 10-point loss to SMU after UH led by a point with four minutes to play and a surprising close eight-point defeat at Louisiana Tech weren't thought to be a signal of future trips, but they were.
The next two road trips, sandwiched around a 1-1 homestand, resulted in five more defeats, none by more than four points.
"You don't know how a team will play on the road until you get there. For the most part we've done well on the road," said Goo. "It played out this season that we weren't a very good road team. It's that simple.
"Then again, maybe we were a good road team looking at how close the games were we lost. You have to look at what we did in the last few minutes or if we dug ourselves a big hole in the beginning."
Hawaii left for the final regular-season trip having lost seven of its last nine games, but rebounded a bit by winning the last two away games. That renewed energy carried over to the first-round victory against Tulsa in the WAC Tournament, but two days later the WAC champ Lady Techsters emphasized just how good they are with a 27-point blowout of UH.
Hawaii did receive a berth in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, but it was a quick appearance. Host Arizona State ended the UH season with a 13-point win, leaving the Wahine with a 3-9 road record in 2002-03.
"We've won 20-plus games 11 times. When you don't reach that goal, it's a little disappointing, obviously," said Goo.
"One of our problems was we had too much inconsistency. Kim was the one who played consistently. Sometimes it might be good to be inconsistent because your opponents don't know who to defend, but we really wanted to be consistent because we play a lot better when we have that."
The Wahine lose front-line starters center Christen Roper and forward Natasja Allen, whose eligibility is completed. They are scheduled to graduate within a year. The same is true for starting point guard Michelle Gabriel.
Goo does not expect to have top reserve Kim Willoughby either next season. She rotated into both front-line positions. Willoughby finished as the team's leading scorer, averaging 11.5 points per game, and was the second best rebounder with seven caroms a game.
"I suspect Kim will make the Olympic (volleyball) team and won't be in school during the spring semester next year because she will be practicing with the Olympic team," said Goo.
Filling those three positions will demand a lot of attention next fall. Two freshman reserves this season, 6-foot-3 center Callie Spooner (17 games) and 6-2 forward Penny Jones (13 games), saw spot duty.
"It would have been nice to have Callie and Penny play more, but there was just too big a gap between them and the three people we rotated into the post and that was sufficient," said Goo.
UH has signed 6-4 center Brittany Grice of Redondo Beach, Calif., and McKinley's 6-1 forward Amber Lee to bolster the front line, but that will be a young, inexperienced group.
The only returning starters are Jade Abele at the wing spot and April Atuaia, who will be the only senior next year, at shooting guard. Two other wing players, freshmen Amy Sanders and Brittney Aiwohi, also are back.
Point guards Milia Macfarlane and Trisha Nishimoto return and Goo hopes to sign one more point guard, so competition should be spirited for the starting job next year.
Pam Tambini, a 5-10 shooting guard, and Kaimuki's Dalia Solia, a 5-9 wing, also signed early with UH to provide depth at those positions.
Off the court the Wahine performed well in the classroom. They were active with community service projects, mostly speaking to youth teams or talking to students at elementary schools and occasionally middle schools.
"The usual subject requested is for the players to discuss what it takes to be a successful student-athlete," said Goo.
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