WAHINE BASKETBALL
Arkansas ousts Hawaii in semifinal
The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine disintegrated in the second half against Arkansas after leading the Lady Razorbacks by five points at the half.
Arkansas advanced to today's 5:30 p.m. championship game against No. 2 North Carolina with the 68-54 win over UH in a Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic semifinal game.
In the other championship bracket semifinal at the Stan Sheriff Center, the Tar Heels, despite getting their toughest challenge of the season, defeated Gonzaga 101-63.
The Wahine (2-2 overall, 1-1 tourney) play Gonzaga (5-2, 1-1) for third place at 3:20 p.m.
The Lady Razorbacks (7-0, 2-0) began the second half with a 20-4 run and never looked back.
"They came out in the second half rejuvenated. We came out tired and flat and we were very erratic with our decisions," said UH senior post Brittany Grice.
Hawaii threw a 2-3 zone at Arkansas in the first half and it caused the quicker Lady Razorbacks trouble with their penetration game. Arkansas coach Susie Gardner made a change at the half that paid off.
"They spread us way out. We took the bait and they were able to drive on us. They kept scoring and we had no answer once they got ahead," Grice said.
There were several aspects of the Wahine performance that frustrated UH coach Jim Bolla. One was that the expected adjustment by Arkansas was discussed at halftime.
But, it was the play just before the half that Bolla thinks helped turn the momentum.
The Wahine had possession and a seven-point lead with 31 seconds left.
"We should have come down and taken the last shot with about 6 seconds left. Instead, we lose the ball with 10 seconds left and they walk up the floor and score," Bolla said.
Arkansas' Brittney Vaughn dribbled the ball the length of the court without any pressure and laid the ball in with 2 seconds on the clock.
"That's where it all started. That let Arkansas go into the locker room with momentum. They came out, penetrated, crashed the boards and we complemented them with turnovers. They are a great team, but they scored 31 points off our turnovers," Bolla said.
The Wahine went more than 7 minutes before scoring their second field goal to start the game as Arkansas took an early 8-2 lead. A mini-jumper by Grice with 12:46 left in the first half ignited a 10-0 UH run that put the Wahine ahead 12-8.
The Lady Razorbacks regained the lead 14-12 on six consecutive points by Tanisha Smith on a free throw, a 3-pointer and a layup off a steal.
Grice's rebound basket and ensuing free throw gave UH the lead back and the Wahine stayed in front the rest of the half, taking a 36-31 advantage into the locker room. But it didn't last long.
The Lady Razorbacks took a 51-40 lead with the 20-4 run in the first 6 minutes of the second half. Donica Cosby, a 5-7 freshman guard, scored the final 10 points in the spurt on two driving layups and a pair of 3 pointers.
The Wahine turned the ball over seven times during the Arkansas run. Three of those times they simply threw the ball out of bounds.
"They spread out our zone and we never recovered," said senior co-captain Pam Tambini. "Our offense just fell apart in the second half. They played man and they pressured us, but it was the same exact defense they used in the first half."
Tanya Smith's putback at the 12:26 mark broke a 4-minute UH scoring drought and left UA with a 51-42 lead.
Two free throws by Sarah Pfeifer with 9:00 to play gave the Lady Razorbacks a 10-point lead. They would increase the margin to as many at 17 points with two minutes left.
Cosby led all scorers with 24 points. Grice and Janevia Taylor scored 15 apiece for UH.
No. 2 North Carolina 101, Gonzaga 63: The Tar Heels (4-0) raced to a 25-point lead in the first 10 minutes with their fullcourt pressure defense and held it at intermission (55-30). Seven Tar Heels scored in double figures led by senior guard Ivory Latta's 20 points.
The Bulldogs, who scored 24 more points against UNC than any of the Tar Heels first five opponents, were led by Jami Bjorklund's 21 points.
No. 21 UCLA 87, Sacramento State 64: Lindsey Pluimer sank 12 of 14 attempts including all three treys for a game-high 27 points to lead the Bruins (3-3, 1-1) into today's fifth-place game at 1:10 p.m. against Texas Tech.
UCLA shot 57 percent from the field while holding the Hornets (1-5, 0-2) to 33 percent. The Bruins also enjoyed a 53-30 advantage off the boards.
Atty Boyer was high for Sacramento State with 23 points.
Texas Tech 67, Denver 53: The Lady Raiders (4-1, 1-1) frontcourt standouts Alesha Robertson and Erin Robertson scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, and accounted for 11 rebounds each. Tech advance to today's consolation bracket final against UCLA.
The Pioneers (1-1, 0-2) were led by Tyesha Lowrey (11 points) and Sara Benham (10 points). They play Sacramento State for seventh place today at 11 a.m.
Arkansas 70, Hawaii 56
Razorbacks (7-0)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Allen |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
4 |
0 |
6
|
Brereton |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
2
|
Ervin |
3 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
30 |
11 |
2 |
6
|
Vaughn |
2 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
29 |
0 |
1 |
7
|
Ford |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Washington |
1 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
0 |
1 |
3
|
Smith |
3 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
8
|
Cosby |
9 |
17 |
3 |
3 |
26 |
6 |
5 |
24
|
Howard |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
Jones |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
4
|
Pfeifer |
2 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
19 |
1 |
0 |
8
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
|
Totals |
27 |
72 |
12 |
17 |
200 |
36 |
9 |
70 |
Rainbow Wahine (2-2)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Smith |
4 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
12 |
1 |
8
|
Tambini |
1 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
30 |
5 |
1 |
6
|
Grice |
5 |
9 |
5 |
7 |
32 |
8 |
4 |
15
|
Taylor |
6 |
14 |
1 |
3 |
37 |
6 |
1 |
15
|
Cariaga |
2 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
38 |
2 |
1 |
7
|
Tinnin |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Solia |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
0
|
Chretien |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Liepkalne |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
3
|
Lee |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Zagrobelna |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
6 |
1 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
19 |
49 |
15 |
22 |
200 |
48 |
10 |
56 |
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, Arkansas 31
3-point goals -- Arkansas 4-21 (Cosby 3-9, Smith 1-2, Vaughn 0-1, Ford 0-1, Washington 0-4, Howard 0-4), Hawaii 3-11 (Taylor 2-5, Cariaga 1-2, Tambini 0-1, Zagrobelna 0-1, Liepkalne 0-2). Personal fouls -- Arkansas 19, Hawaii 13.
Steals -- Arkansas 12 (Allen 4, Smith 2, Ervin, Vaughn, Washington, Cosby, Jones, Pfeifer), Hawaii 2 (Smith 2). Blocked shots -- Arkansas 0, Hawaii 3 (Zagrobelna 2, Cariaga). Turnovers -- Arkansas 5 (Allen, Vaughn, Ford, Cosby, Pfeifer), Hawaii 24 (Taylor 5, Cariaga 5, Tambini 5, Smith 4, Grice 2, Zagrobelna 2, Solia). Officials -- Brenda Pantoja, Todd Apo, Brian Yamasaki. A -- 539.