Rainbow Wahine
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Sanders’ scoring helps UH respond
to a blowout loss with a 71-43 victory

The Hawaii women's basketball team started the new year exhibiting a much higher energy level than the Rainbow Wahine showed in their final game of 2004.

The reversal translated into a dominating 71-43 victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack in a Western Athletic Conference contest played before 295 New Year's Day fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii's defense was unrelenting, holding Nevada to 26 percent from the field. The 43 points are the fewest Hawaii (5-4, 1-1 WAC) has allowed and the fewest Nevada (4-8, 0-2) has scored this season.

"We weren't happy after the last game," Hawaii guard Janevia Taylor said of Thursday's loss to Fresno State. "I think we learned from that game. The coaches broke everything down just like Fresno, so it was up to us to play defense.

"We had the same opportunities against Nevada as we did Fresno. The difference was we got more help from the bench tonight. Once you start scoring you want to play hard on defense. We didn't have any (scoring) droughts tonight."

The Wahine were led by Amy Sanders, who nearly doubled her previous scoring-high with 25 points, going 9-for-13 from the field, including making all three 3-point attempts. Last February, she scored 13 against Southern Methodist.

"I felt confident. It helps knowing you can score for the team and get some easy layups. You get into the flow of the game easier," said Sanders, who acknowledged the team attitude change started with individuals.

"Everyone had to look at themselves and say, 'What can I do to make this team better?' We had a hard practice yesterday and that helped. It helps that our bench makes practice hard, challenging."

The Wahine defense did not allow the Wolf Pack to reach double figures until 15:03 had elapsed. That's when Traci Graham scored on a scoop layup from the left side to pull Nevada within 28-11 with 4:57 left in the opening half.

With Sanders scoring seven of UH's first 11 points, the Wahine took a quick 11-3 lead. They increased it to 24-5 with a 13-2 spurt over the next 5 minutes by hitting six field goals to Nevada's one; the Wolf Pack made just two of 12 attempts from the field in the first 10 minutes.

Milia Macfarlane's free throw followed by her steal near midcourt and layup started the UH run. Alofa Toiaivao sank a short jumper, then a layup.

Amber Lee rebounded a missed free throw and scored on a layup. Dalia Solia hit a baseline jumper and Sanders followed with a layup, finishing the half with 11 points.

The Wolf Pack made consecutive baskets only once in the first half, cutting the UH lead to 28-13 with a little more than 4 minutes remaining.

Hawaii then built its halftime advantage to 20 points, 33-13, on a 3-pointer by Taylor and Macfarlane's 10-footer from the right baseline.

The Wolf Pack shot just 22 percent from the field in the half, had five shots blocked and were guilty of 13 turnovers, some of which the Wahine turned into 17 points.

"We came to play tonight and played more physical. We were able to bump their cutters and they would send several through the lane at a time," said UH coach Jim Bolla. "We switched a lot instead of trying to fight through their screens because the matchups were there and we were consistent in our scoring."

The closest Nevada got in the second half was 17 points. The Wolf Pack were led by Meghan McGuire's 20 points.

Hawaii won the rebound battle 41-29, with six each by Taylor and Jade Abele.

Notes: Bryony Crouch, a sophomore guard from Melbourne, Australia, scored her first points of the season when she connected on a 3-pointer in the second half. ... Saundra Cariaga, a freshman guard from Kealakehe, saw her first action this season and had one rebound.

Hawaii 71, Nevada 43

Wolf Pack (4-8, 0-2 WAC)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Anderson	3	12	3	3	33	7	0	9
Feest	0	0	0	0	5	0	1	0
Bankston	0	4	4	4	26	4	0	4
Graham	2	7	0	0	27	1	2	4
Massey	0	1	0	0	14	1	0	0
Presslar	0	0	0	0	5	1	1	0
Saltmarsh	0	2	1	2	14	0	0	1
McGuire	7	17	5	7	27	1	0	20
Young	0	6	1	2	29	8	1	1
Sitton	2	5	0	0	20	1	0	4
Team						5
Totals	14	54	14	18	200	29	5	43
Rainbow Wahine (5-4, 1-1 wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Taylor	5	10	2	2	28	6	4	13
Abele	2	4	0	2	28	6	1	4
Nishimoto	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	0
Sanders	9	13	4	5	32	3	3	25
Solia	2	5	0	0	12	5	2	4
Cariaga	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0
Crouch	1	2	0	0	5	0	1	3
Macfarlane	4	7	1	2	29	4	3	10
Smith	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	2
Spooner	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Tambini	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Lee	1	3	0	0	13	4	1	2
Grice	1	5	2	2	19	4	3	4
Toiaivao	2	4	0	1	17	4	3	4
Team						3
Totals	28	54	9	14	200	41	21	71

Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime--Hawaii 33, Nevada 13
3-point goals--Nevada 1-9 (McGuire 1-5, Anderson 0-3, Massey 0-1); Hawaii 6-13 (Sanders 3-3, Taylor 1-3, Crouch 1-2, Macfarlane 1-1, Abele 0-2, Solia 0-2). Personal fouls--Nevada 12, Hawaii 17.
Steals--Nevada 9 (Anderson 3, Graham 3, Sitton 2, McGuire); Hawaii 6 (Abele 2, Grice, Lee, Macfarlane, Nishimoto). Blocked shots--Nevada 0; Hawaii 9 (Grice 5, Sanders 2, Abele, Toiaivao). Turnovers--Nevada 18 (Anderson 7, Bankston 3, Young 3, McGuire 2, Feest, Preslar, Sitton); Hawaii 19 (Abele 3, Macfarlane 3, Lee 2, Nishimoto 2, Sanders 2, Solia 2, Taylor 2, Grice, Tambini, Toiaivao); Officials--Carla Fujimoto, Eric Larson, Kent Johnson. A--909.