WAHINE BASKETBALL
Hawaii breaks Fresno’s spell
Hawaii halted a six-game hex last night by defeating Fresno State for the first time since January 3, 2004.
The Rainbow Wahine turned back a late Bulldog challenge by outscoring Fresno State 24-9 in the final 6:02 en route to a 79-65 victory in a Western Athletic Conference women's basketball game last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The 79 points is a season high for the Wahine (12-12 overall, 6-6 WAC) and Hawaii extended its longest winning streak of the season to five.
Cassidy Chretien, the hero of last week's win at Louisiana Tech with two last-second free throws, sank eight consecutive attempts from the foul line in the last 2 minutes.
Chretien finished 11-for-12 from the charity stripe and with 15 points to share UH scoring honors with Brittany Grice.
"This definitely feels good. We haven't beaten them since my freshman year, and it has been frustrating to lose to them at home," said Grice, who led UH with seven rebounds.
"We ran our options through and mixed up the plays we ran. We didn't become stagnant and people saw the open person at the right time. Everyone was on the same page 90 percent of the time."
The Wahine connected on 53.7 percent of their field-goal attempts while holding the Bulldogs (13-11, 6-5) to 39.7 percent.
"A couple of times we tried the triangle-and-two on defense, but it didn't work," said interim head coach Pat Charity.
"We stayed with a 2-3 or a 3-2 zone most of the time depending on who they had in the game.
"We had five players in double figures, so everyone was sharing the ball."
Pam Tambini scored 14 points, while Tanya Smith and Amy Kotani contributed 12.
"Amy Kotani is playing wonderful ball. She is seeing the floor and we have won five in a row since she has started at the point," Charity said. "Cassidy did a great job off the bench when Janevia Taylor got into foul trouble."
The Wahine got off to a good start at both ends of the court. They made four of the first seven field-goal attempts and held to Bulldogs to 1-for-6 from the floor to take an 8-2 lead after 4 minutes.
Fresno State put together a 10-4 run and tied the score at 12-12 on consecutive baskets by Paige Diggs, Chantella Perera and Tierre Wilson.
Grice stopped the bleeding with a jumper from the foul line and Tambini followed with a layup. After a Wilson bucket, Saundra Cariaga scored on a layup off a skip pass from Chretien for an 18-14 UH lead with 9:17 left in the half.
The teams continued to trade baskets until the Bulldogs took advantage of a steal and layup by Perera and two free throws from Wilson to close to within a point (25-24).
Chretien's 5-foot jumper was matched by two more Wilson free throws with 1:45 to go.
Two free throws by Amber Lee and Megan Tinnin's putback gave UH a 31-26 lead with 12 seconds on the clock. Wilson's free throw left FSU trailing 31-27 at the half.
The Wahine played the last 15 minutes of the half without Smith, saddled with two fouls, and the final 5:02 with Tambini on the bench with two fouls.
Smith scored two quick field goals and Grice added a layup after Perera's 3-pointer to help UH go ahead 37-30.
A trey and jumper by Kendra Walker-Roche whittled the Wahine lead to 37-35.
Kotani's 3-pointer ignited a 9-2 spurt that put UH up 46-37 at the 13:22 mark as Tambini, Kotani and Smith followed with field goals.
"They were sagging on our post players and I had some space," Kotani said.
WAC Standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Boise State |
10 |
1 |
.909 |
-- |
19 |
5
|
Louisiana Tech |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
1 1/2 |
14 |
11
|
Fresno State |
6 |
5 |
.545 |
4 |
13 |
11
|
Nevada |
6 |
5 |
.545 |
4 |
12 |
12
|
Utah State |
6 |
5 |
.545 |
4 |
10 |
13
|
Hawaii |
6 |
6 |
.500 |
4 1/2 |
12 |
12
|
New Mexico State |
5 |
7 |
.417 |
5 1/2 |
10 |
14
|
San Jose State |
2 |
10 |
.167 |
8 1/2 |
3 |
23
|
Idaho |
2 |
10 |
.167 |
8 1/2 |
5 |
18 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 79, Fresno State 65
Utah State 59, Nevada 44
Tomorrow
Utah State at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Nevada at San Jose State
Idaho at Louisiana Tech
Boise State at Fresno State
Hawaii 79, Fresno State 65
Bulldogs (13-11, 6-5 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Roberson |
4 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
5 |
0 |
9
|
Green |
0 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
28 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
|
Wilson |
6 |
12 |
0 |
2 |
31 |
9 |
4 |
14
|
Jones |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Diggs |
3 |
10 |
7 |
10 |
39 |
3 |
2 |
13
|
Perera |
8 |
18 |
0 |
2 |
31 |
2 |
3 |
18
|
Henry |
2 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
26 |
5 |
1 |
4
|
Thigpin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Hagemeister |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Walker-Roche |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
25 |
63 |
9 |
20 |
200 |
36 |
13 |
65 |
Rainbow Wahine (12-12, 6-6 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Taylor |
0 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
27 |
5 |
5 |
1
|
Tinnin |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Kotani |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
31 |
3 |
3 |
12
|
Cariaga |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Chretien |
2 |
4 |
11 |
12 |
15 |
2 |
7 |
15
|
Liepkalne |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Smith |
6 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
24 |
6 |
2 |
12
|
Tambini |
6 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
36 |
4 |
1 |
14
|
Lee |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
4
|
Grice |
6 |
8 |
3 |
3 |
39 |
7 |
2 |
15
|
Zagrobelna |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
2
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
|
Totals |
29 |
54 |
18 |
23 |
200 |
36 |
22 |
79 |
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 31, Fresno State 27
3-point goals -- FSU 6-18 (Wilson 2-4, Perera 2-6, Roberson 1-1, Walker-Roche 1-3, Green 0-1, Jones 0-3), Hawaii 3-9 (Kotani 2-2, Tambini 1-4, Liepkalne 0-1, Grice 0-1, Zagrobelna 0-1). Personal fouls -- FSU 22, Hawaii 20. Fouled out -- Perera.
Steals -- FSU 5 (Perera 2, Green, Henry, Thigpin), Hawaii 4 (Smith 2, Tambini, Kotani). Blocked shots -- FSU 0, Hawaii 3 (Cariaga, Chretien, Zagrobelna). Turnovers -- FSU 17 (Roberson 4, Green 3, Wilson 3, Perera 3, Jones, Diggs, Henry, Thigpin), Hawaii 18 (Smith 5, Tambini 4, Liepkalne 2, Lee 2, Zagrobelna 2, Taylor, Kotani, Cariaga).
Officials -- Kent Johnson, Carla Fujimoto, John Weeks. A--271.