Badgers confuse Rainbow Wahine

The Hawaii women's basketball team could not buy a basket in the final 5 1/2 minutes of yesterday's second semifinal-round game and that hurt.

The Wahine, trailing by one at that point, were outscored 15-6 the rest of the way by the Wisconsin Badgers, who advance to today's championship game by virtue of their 77-67 victory before 651 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Wisconsin (4-0) plays No. 17 DePaul (4-0) for the championship of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at 5:30 p.m.

Hawaii (2-2) will take on Texas A&M (2-1) for third place at 3:20 p.m.

What caused the drought from the field varied depending on who was talking.

"It wasn't what they did. We beat ourselves. We needed to be smarter about our shots. I think we might have been trying to draw fouls instead of looking for the open shot," said UH junior wing Pam Tambini, who had 16 points, one short of her career high.

"At the end we didn't execute. Everyone knows what to do, but we might have been too hyped up."

Amy Sanders, who led UH with 19 points, said, "I think they picked up the pressure a bit and we didn't run our plays that well. Our offense is improving, but a lot of times we didn't even get a shot up at the end because of turnovers and fouls."

The Wahine, who hit 43 percent from the field in the first half, dropped to 37 percent in the second half.

Even without field goals, Hawaii stayed close by hitting free throws and trailed 69-67 with 2:03 remaining on two swishes from the charity stripe by Sanders, the final Wahine points.

Jolene Anderson hit a jumper and, after a UH turnover, Kjersten Bakke put a miss by Anderson back for a 73-67 Wisconsin lead with 1:12 to go and the Badgers closed it out with free throws.

"They really pushed us out of our normal sets, giving us bad angles when it came to getting the ball to our post players. Give them credit for turning up the pressure in the second half," said UH coach Jim Bolla.

"Our other nemesis was rebounding. We couldn't get one to save our lives in the last 2 minutes of the game. We're not the same team talent-wise as last year, but we're playing harder this year. Sometimes that will make up the difference, but tonight it didn't."

The first half ended with UH ahead 39-38, with the biggest difference being the 12 free throws the Wahine made in 17 attempts while the Badgers were just 2-for-5. Wisconsin made half of its 34 field-goal attempts.

The Wahine led for the first 11 minutes, with Sanders scoring nine points, but Wisconsin grabbed a 26-22 lead on consecutive 3-point shots by Janese Banks and Akiya Alexander.

UH would regain the lead on six consecutive free throws, two by Alofa Toiaivao and four by Sanders, only to have layups by Banks and Alexander make the score 30-all. The teams tied at 32, 35 and 37 before Janevia Taylor connected on a 12-foot jumper from the left side that was answered by Banks making one of two free throws leaving the Wahine in front by a point at intermission.

No. 17 DePaul 84, Texas A&M 71

In the first semifinal-round game, the Blue Demons shot 57 percent from the field to hand the Aggies their first setback of the season. The Blue Demons had great success scoring inside, as 56 of their points were generated from within the paint.

DePaul, nursing a seven-point lead with 17:03 left in the game, took control by outscoring A&M 20-8 over the next 6 1/2 minutes to lead 66-49.

During that run center Char Smith scored eight of her 16 points and Claudette Towers hit a pair of baskets.

The Blue Demons took the lead early and led by six (41-35) at the half, in part because they shot 57 percent (16-for-28) from the field while the Aggies managed just 38 percent (13-for-34) from the floor. A&M also struggled from the charity stripe, hitting just nine of 18 attempts.

Jenna Rubino's 18 points were high for DePaul, while A&M's Danielle Gant led all scorers with 19 points.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Washington State 74, Idaho State 51

The Cougars (3-1) had five players in double figures, led by Charmaine Jones' 13 points. Dani Montgomery, Keisha Moore and Kate Benz, who hauled in 21 rebounds, each contributed 12 points.

WSU put its height advantage to good use in the second half, pulling away from a 32-26 halftime lead with a 42-point outburst.

Andrea Lightfoot was high for the Bengals (0-3) with 13 points.

Cal State Northridge 69, Eastern Michigan 59

The Matadors (1-3) won their first game of the season by building an 11-point (41-30) lead at the break and holding off the Eagles (2-2) in the second half.

Katie Holloway paced CSN with 16 points, while Jazelle Burries had 14. Junior guard Megan Ching, a Kamehameha graduate, led all players with six steals, topped the Matadors with four assists and scored seven points.

Eastern Michigan's Sarah Vanmetre led her team with 15 points and had a game-high nine rebounds.

WSU and CSN play for fifth place at 1:10 p.m. today and Idaho State and Eastern Michigan meet for seventh place at 11 a.m.

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