Boise zaps UH

Boise State had an answer for every Hawaii challenge last night.

That ability kept the Broncos undefeated in Western Athletic Conference play with their fifth consecutive win, a 62-53 victory over the Wahine before a Stan Sheriff crowd of 418.

Boise State (14-4, 5-0) built a 10-point lead at the half, then played UH (7-11, 1-5) even in the second half although the Wahine got within a point once, two points once and three points three times.

The Broncos refused to be on the short end of the score down the stretch and maintained a lead on key baskets by Tasha Harris and free throws by Jessica Thompson to get their first win ever here.

UH coach Jim Bolla's plan was to go inside and hopefully get some easy baskets and get the BSU post in foul trouble.

"Our point guards were killing us. We wanted to go inside and our first four shots were from 3-point range," Bolla said. "Turnovers have killed us in every conference game."

Janevia Taylor started at the point. She was followed by Cassidy Chretien, and Amy Kotani played most of the second half.

Saundra Cariaga's two free throws nudged UH ahead 9-8 after 5 minutes, but the Wahine would score just two field goals, by Pam Tambini and Tanya Smith, over the next 7 minutes.

Fortunately, the Broncos weren't much better, but buckets by Michelle Hessing and Rebecca Kepilino left Boise State leading 20-13.

Following another timeout, the Broncos increased their lead to 28-15 on treys by Harris and and Kepilino's jumper.

The Wahine cut the deficit to 32-23, but were guilty of 14 first-half turnovers, several the result of passes not even close to the intended receiver.

"We have a habit of throwing the ball to the wrong side of the player," said Bolla. "In the second half we played a lot better, but we got to a point where we couldn't get a stop (on defense)."

UH cut the Broncos' lead to five (36-31) in the first 5 minutes before Boise State responded with a 9-4 spurt to get its lead back to 45-35.

Iwona Zagrobelna's spinning layup off the right lane, Kotani's 3-pointer from the right corner and Grice's layup pulled UH to within three points (45-42) with 7:56 left.

Zagrobelna's putback left UH one point short of a tie. Hessing's 12-foot jumper and Harris's steal and layup gave BSU a 49-44 lead but Kotani's trey brought the Wahine back to within two with 5:24 to play.

A Hessing free throw, Harris' 3-pointer and a layup after a UH miss gave the Broncos a 55-47 lead.

Another Kotani 3-pointer with 1:42 on the clock left the Wahine down 55-50, the closest they would get.