Nevada rushes past Wahine

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Nevada went on a 25-9 run to close a 74-69 win over the Hawaii women's basketball team at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.

Nevada    Hawaii 74 69 NEXT UP Feb. 21 vs. Fresno State

Despite a 56-31 advantage in rebounds, the Rainbow Wahine couldn't hold off the speedy Wolf Pack and couldn't buy a basket in the final 2 minutes.

Tanya Smith led Hawaii with 15 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocked shots.

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Award this round to speed - barely.

In a classic matchup of size against quickness, swift Nevada collected 16 steals and rallied to take a 74-69 win from Hawaii before a season-high crowd of 401 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine countered Nevada's thievery for much of the night with an absolutely dominant 56-31 effort on the backboards, but 26 turnovers - 16 more than the Wolf Pack - and cold shooting down the stretch doomed the Wahine (9-14, 3-7 WAC).

Hawaii coach Jim Bolla was incensed at the lack of calls Hawaii's way. Nevada (17-6, 8-2 WAC), despite a severe lack of size in the post, earned 20 trips to the free-throw line to only six for the home team.

"We're the home team, we shoot six free throws and they shoot 20? Are you (kidding) me?" Bolla said.

"That was a joke out there with those people with the stripes on. If the commissioner wants to reprimand me, fine. They need to look at the tape."

Tanya Smith led Hawaii with 15 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks, while Tara Hittle added nine points and a career-high 14 boards in her second start. Saundra Cariaga chipped in 16 and Keisha Kanekoa 11. After making half of their attempts before the break, the Wahine went cold in the second period and shot 39.2 percent for the game.

The Wolf Pack made up an 11-point deficit midway through the second half with a 15-3 run to take a 64-63 edge with 4 minutes, 14 seconds left.

The teams swapped the lead four times from that point, but Nevada made plays late behind the leadership of guard Dellena Criner. The Western Athletic Conference's leading scorer, who was held to four points in the first half, came on strong to finish with 16. She also had five assists and five steals.

Criner dished to Mikail Price for a dagger 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to give the Wolf Pack a four-point lead, and the Rainbow Wahine missed all their field-goal attempts, including three 3-pointers, in the final 2 minutes. Four players finished in double figures for the Wolf Pack.

"I feel like we had them exactly where we wanted them," Smith said. "A few non-calls and a few turnovers here, the next thing we know they're up. It just changed so fast."

Hawaii coughed up a possession 26 times, leading to a whopping 33-6 Nevada advantage in points off turnovers. The Wahine were swept by Nevada following a 10-point loss in Reno last month, in which ball control was also a big factor.

"We just panicked," said Kanekoa. "We didn't take care of the ball, and they kept executing on our turnovers."

Hawaii was generally successful against the Wolf Pack's fullcourt press early with a backcourt of point guards in Amy Kotani and Kanekoa.

Leilani Galdones appeared for the final minute of the first half when Kotani got into foul trouble, and rewarded Bolla with a steal and beat Criner down the court for a layup and a 39-31 lead as the buzzer sounded.

But Nevada opened the second half on a 9-4 run to get right back in it, and trailed just 49-47 on a pair of Criner free throws.

Then the Wahine got flashy.

Hittle grabbed a loose ball and fed Cariaga under the basket with a sweet behind the back pass for an easy basket. Hawaii forced a turnover on Nevada's next possession, and Kanekoa hooked a pass to Galdones in the same fashion on the ensuing fast break for another score.

But it didn't last. Hawaii's early success was also aided by two banked 3-pointers.

Criner, unguarded at the top of the key, swished an NBA-range 3-pointer that helped give the Pack confidence and eventually take the lead back when combined with Hawaii's stagnant attack.

"We gave it away," Bolla said. "People got scared. They didn't want to be on the floor, so they throw the ball away. They're too good a team to do that on."

The Wahine have 12 days off before home contests against WAC-leading Fresno State and 1-8 San Jose State.