WAHINE BASKETBALL
Wahine squeak it out in OT
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Janevia Taylor scored seven of her 16 points in overtime and Amy Sanders poured in a team-high 21 as Hawaii came back in overtime to defeat New Mexico State 74-71 in Western Athletic Conference basketball yesterday at the Pan American Center.
Tanya Smith added 14 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Rainbow Wahine (18-8, 9-6) who won their fifth-straight game and fourth in a row on the road, but nearly let the win slip away.
"We gift wrapped this game and they dropped it," Hawaii coach Jim Bolla said. "We can't afford to play like this (tomorrow) or we'll lose by 40."
Hawaii travels to Louisiana Tech to take on the 19th-ranked Lady Techsters in the regular-season finale tomorrow for both teams. Last night's win, combined with Nevada's 53-48 loss to San Jose State, pushed the Wahine into sole possession of third place. However, Nevada owns the tiebreaker over Hawaii.
The Rainbow Wahine trailed 35-27 at halftime as the Aggies (8-19, 5-11) had their way with the Wahine amoeba zone defense, getting easy looks at the basket. Hawaii decided to go to a smaller lineup in the second half and played tighter defense, which fueled the comeback.
"We wanted to go to a smaller, quicker lineup to play man-to-man on defense and that got us back in the game," Bolla said.
With the score tied at 63, neither team scored in the final two minutes, and both missed opportunities. Brittany Grice missed two free throws, but the Aggies turned the ball over twice and missed a wide-open layup. Taylor managed to hoist a shot as time expired, but it didn't draw iron.
She redeemed herself in overtime, nailing a 3-pointer to give Hawaii a 68-66 lead with 1:55 to go. After an Aggies turnover, Taylor scored again to push the lead to four. A 3-pointer from nearly 30 feet by Monique Bribiescas with 7 seconds left pulled the Aggies to within one, but Taylor nailed two free throws and New Mexico State's half-court shot at the buzzer missed.
WAC standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Louisiana Tech |
14 |
1 |
.933 |
-- |
22 |
4
|
Fresno State |
13 |
2 |
.867 |
1 |
21 |
6
|
Hawaii |
9 |
6 |
.600 |
5 |
18 |
8
|
Nevada |
8 |
7 |
.533 |
6 |
12 |
15
|
San Jose State |
7 |
8 |
.467 |
7 |
12 |
14
|
Boise State |
6 |
9 |
.400 |
8 |
14 |
13
|
New Mexico St. |
5 |
11 |
.313 |
9 1/2 |
8 |
19
|
Idaho |
4 |
11 |
.267 |
10 |
8 |
18
|
Utah State |
2 |
13 |
.133 |
12 |
3 |
22 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 74, New Mexico State 71 OT
Fresno State 70, Utah State 52
San Jose St. 53, Nevada 48
Today
San Jose State at Idaho
Tomorrow
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech
Nevada at Fresno State
Utah State at San Jose State
Hawaii 74, New Mexico St. 71
Rainbow Wahine (18-8, 9-6 WAC)
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Grice |
4 |
7 |
3 |
6 |
26 |
6 |
0 |
11
|
Taylor |
6 |
17 |
2 |
2 |
41 |
6 |
1 |
16
|
Kotani |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
1 |
2 |
3
|
Sanders |
5 |
15 |
8 |
9 |
41 |
5 |
2 |
21
|
Tambini |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
28 |
3 |
2 |
1
|
Solia |
1 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
4
|
Cariaga |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Chretien |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Smith |
5 |
13 |
4 |
7 |
34 |
18 |
3 |
14
|
Aiwohi |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Lee |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
Totals |
24 |
65 |
20 |
28 |
225 |
45 |
10 |
74 |
Aggies (8-19, 5-11 WAC)
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Ford |
8 |
14 |
8 |
14 |
37 |
15 |
2 |
24
|
Neal |
4 |
11 |
0 |
2 |
39 |
5 |
0 |
8
|
Bribiescas |
4 |
11 |
4 |
5 |
37 |
6 |
3 |
14
|
Kmitaite |
2 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
8 |
6 |
5
|
Baker |
4 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
3 |
0 |
10
|
Russell-Nava |
2 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
33 |
2 |
1 |
5
|
Nance |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
Denning |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
1
|
Walton |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
4
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
Totals |
26 |
67 |
13 |
23 |
225 |
47 |
13 |
71 |
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 -- New Mexico St. 35, Hawaii 27
3-point goals -- Hawaii 6-20 (Sanders 3-8, Taylor 2-6, Kotani 1-1, Cariaga 0-1, Tambini 0-2, Solia 0-2), NMSU 6-24 (Bribiescas 2-4, Baker 2-4, Kmitaite 1-7, Russell-Nava 1-9). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 20, NMSU 19. Technical foul--Solia.
Steals -- Hawaii 3 (Grice, Kotani, Cariaga), NMSU 4 (Ford, Neal, Bribiescas, Kmitaite). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 4 (Smith 2, Grice, Solia), NMSU 3 (Ford, Neal, Denning). Turnovers -- Hawaii 15 (Kotani 3, Smith 2, Grice 2, Taylor 2, Sanders, Tambini, Solia, Cariaga, Chretien, TEAM), NMSU 15 (Ford 6, Kmitaite 4, Neal 2, Russell-Nava 2, Walton). Officials -- Larson, Weeks, Rahe. A -- 759.