Wahine win ugly on road

LOGAN, Utah » Amy Sanders and Janevia Taylor each poured in 17 points as Hawaii outscored Utah State 40-22 in the second half to pull away for a 63-50 victory last night in Western Athletic Conference basketball at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The Wahine (15-8, 6-6) shot just 27 percent from the field, but dominated the glass, outrebounding the Aggies 52-39 despite playing without senior center Brittany Grice, who missed the game to attend to family issues. She was the only Wahine to start every previous game this season.

"It was an ugly game," Hawaii coach Jim Bolla said. "I wasn't happy with our performance in the first half, but it wasn't unexpected. Whenever this team has a layoff, we just don't play well early."

Reserve Tanya Smith added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Pam Tambini grabbed 12 boards for the Rainbow Wahine, who won their third straight road game.

"This had the chance to be a trap game for us," Bolla said. "I told the girls at halftime they needed to attack the glass, and we also switched to a man-to-man defense that was key as well."

Sanders scored 10 points in UH's nightmarish first half, in which they shot just 8-for-35 from the field and had nearly as many turnovers (7) as field goals made (8) as the Aggies took a 28-23 halftime lead.

After a basket to open the second half gave Utah State a seven-point lead, Sanders scored five quick points to help jump-start the Wahine offense.

A layup by Ali Marchant gave the Aggies a two-point lead with 6 minutes to go, but the Rainbow Wahine answered with an 11-0 run to take a 54-45 lead with 2:40 left and nailed nine of 10 free throws to seal their fourth win in five games.

UH remained tied with San Jose State for fourth in the conference and is only a half-game behind Nevada for third.

"It's a quick turnaround for us playing on Wednesday (against Idaho)," Bolla said. "It's not the best situation, but fortunately Monday is a holiday, so we'll have time to rest up and get ready."