WAHINE BASKETBALL
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Brittany Grice led Hawaii with 19 points and 10 rebounds last night against Campbell.
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Rainbow Wahine knock off the rust
Hawaii fought off one Campbell comeback after another to defeat the Fighting Camels 69-59 last night in the opener of a two-game women's basketball series before 403 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The outcome was in doubt until senior forward Brittney Aiwohi, playing in her first game this season, gave the Rainbow Wahine a 64-59 lead with 44 seconds to play by hitting her third 3-pointer and Alofa Toiaivao followed with a huge block.
After Toiaivao stuffed Campbell's top scorer, Marlena Murphy, with just under a minute to go, the Fighting Camels had to foul. Pam Tambini made three of four from the free-throw line and Toiaivao stole the ball for an uncontested layup with seconds to play.
"The team is doing really well and I've just been supportive," Aiwohi said. "You go in when the big guy says go in. You just better be ready."
UH coach Jim Bolla used 12 players in an effort to get mileage out of his team coming off final exam week.
"I thought we were really flat and I don't think anyone would disagree," said Brittany Grice, who led the Wahine with 19 points and tied Tambini for game-high rebound honors with 10.
"We were lethargic in the shootaround. Our bench did a great job. I'm really proud of them. Everyone on this team can play. They just need a chance to prove it."
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Campbell's Amber Graham broke up a layup attempt by Hawaii's Callie Spooner last night.
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The Wahine led 50-42 on Aiwohi's trey from the top of the arc at the 10:45 mark. The Fighting Camels used two 3-pointers by Tomika Tomlinson and one from Letitia Dickson to outscore UH 9-5 and cut their deficit to 55-51 with 6:05 left.
Murphy's rebound and layup pulled Campbell to within two points (55-53) with 4:43 to play.
Cassidy Chretien's fast-break layup off a long pass from Toiaivao offset another bucket by Murphy as UH battled to keep the lead.
A short jumper by Toiaivao and Grice's putback gave the Wahine a 61-55 lead with 2:47 remaining, but a jumper by Adrienne Rieley with 2:40 left and again with 1:50 to play kept the Camels within two points (61-59).
"We hadn't been on this floor for 19 days. I thought we would be rusty," Bolla said. "Give them credit for staying in their zone. We had a lot of trouble and didn't do some of things we wanted to do. We didn't shoot well and we had no outside shooting until we brought Brittney in.
"Tomorrow we have to take advantage of what they are giving us, which we didn't do tonight."
After Campbell's Rieley tied the score at 10, the Wahine put together an 11-0 run with Tanya Smith hitting a pair of short jumpers and Tambini contributing three points.
The Fighting Camels came back to cut the UH lead to 21-16 on Dasha Green's reverse layup, a basket by Dickson and two free throws from Murphy, who scored a career-high 14 points.
The Wahine took nine-point leads on three occasions. Toiaivao's layup off a feed from Janevia Taylor put UH ahead 25-16, the second of consecutive jumpers in the lane by Grice made the score 31-23 with 4:21 left in the half and Toiaivao's 8-footer gave the Wahine a 34-25 lead with 2 minutes to go.
UH was just 2-for-11 from the field in the final 4 minutes.
Murphy hit two layups and Dickson sank both free throws with 3 seconds on the clock to cut the Wahine lead to 36-31 at intermission.
Hawaii's leading scorer, Amy Sanders, did not start after going to a hospital emergency room Tuesday with a non-basketball-related illness. She did enter the game with 15:53 left in the first half, was 0-for-3 from the field and did not play in the second half. That ended a streak of 34 consecutive starts dating back to the last game of her sophomore season.
Note: Campbell trainer Craig Moriwaki is a 1988 UH graduate and began his career at Iolani.
Hawaii 69, Campbell 59
Fighting Camels (3-5)
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|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Dickson |
4 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
40 |
5 |
2 |
11
|
Tomlinson |
4 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
35 |
3 |
5 |
10
|
Green |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
17 |
3 |
0 |
1
|
Graham |
5 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
30 |
6 |
1 |
13
|
Rieley |
5 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
2 |
0 |
10
|
Blackwell |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Ochogu |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Rich |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Lodge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Murphy |
4 |
9 |
6 |
8 |
29 |
8 |
2 |
14
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
8
|
Totals |
22 |
63 |
10 |
14 |
200 |
37 |
11 |
59 |
Rainbow Wahine (6-2)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Taylor |
2 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
5 |
3 |
5
|
Solia |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
1 |
3 |
2
|
Spooner |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Tambini |
3 |
14 |
4 |
6 |
29 |
10 |
0 |
11
|
Grice |
6 |
11 |
7 |
7 |
22 |
10 |
3 |
19
|
Kotani |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
2 |
3 |
1
|
Sanders |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
2 |
1 |
0
|
Cariaga |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
0
|
Chretien |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
2
|
Smith |
3 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
0 |
6
|
Aiwohi |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
9
|
Toiaivao |
7 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
9 |
0 |
14
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
|
Totals |
26 |
75 |
12 |
15 |
200 |
53 |
17 |
69 |
Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Hawaii 36, Campbell 31.
3-point goals -- Campbell 5-19 (Graham 2-6, Tomlinson 2-9, Dickson 1-4), Hawaii 5-25 (Aiwohi 3-6, Tambini 1-5, Taylor 1-6, Solia 0-1, Chretien 0-2, Cariaga 0-2, Sanders 0-3). Personal fouls -- Campbell 16, Hawaii 13. Fouled out--Graham.
Steals -- Campbell 9 (Graham 2, Rieley 2, Murphy 2, Rich, Dickson, Blackwell), Hawaii 6 (Grice 2, Kotani, Solia, Chretien, Toiaivao). Blocked shots -- Campbell 2 (Green, Rieley), Hawaii 8 (Toiaivao 4, Grice 3, Tambini). Turnovers -- Campbell 16 (Dickson 5, Rieley 2, Blackwell 2, Rich 2, Murphy 2, Tomlinson, Green, Ochogu), Hawaii 15 (Smith 3, Toiaivao 2, Grice 2, Taylor 2, Sanders 2, Solia, Kotani, Cariaga, Aiwohi). Officials -- Apo, Barr, Hottendorf. A -- 826.