Rainbow Wahine struggle, but come away with a win
Hawaii had the darnedest time hanging onto the ball.
San Jose State had even more trouble putting it in the basket.
But the end result of a game featuring some bizarre figures was a 61-47 Rainbow Wahine victory before a crowd of 354 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii improved to 10-15 overall and 4-8 in the Western Athletic Conference despite being on a record pace for turnovers for much of the game before finishing with 33.
The Wahine settled down in the final 11 minutes, giving it away just three times down the stretch, and shot 50 percent in pulling away from the Spartans and salvaging a split of a four-game homestand.
"It's a win," UH coach Jim Bolla said. "It's ugly, but it's a win."
SJSU (2-24, 1-12) had its own struggles with 23 turnovers while shooting 26 percent from the field in its eighth straight loss.
Hawaii forward Tara Hittle scored a season-high 15 points, going 9-for-13 from the free-throw line to lead the Wahine. Guard Saundra Cariaga posted 13 points and nine rebounds and forward Tanya Smith recorded her 17th double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
"I definitely like to be aggressive, and the coaches always tell me, 'Don't fade away; go in there strong,' " Hittle said. "I think that's why I got fouled so much."
The Wahine outrebounded the Spartans 46-31 and scored 42 points in the paint despite attempting 21 fewer shots than the Spartans.
"You can't make sense of these numbers," Bolla said while scanning the stat sheet.
Hawaii entered the game averaging a league-high 23.3 turnovers per game, just a tad more than SJSU's 22 per game, and gave the ball away 20 times in the first 20 minutes. Yet, the Wahine went into the locker room with a 26-21 lead, thanks to SJSU's 9-for-39 shooting from the field.
After taking a 21-17 lead, the Spartans went scoreless in the final 5:40 of the half. Hawaii made just one field goal in that span, but still managed to creep ahead from the line with Hittle accounting for seven points -- including five free throws -- in a 9-0 UH run.
Natalie White led San Jose State with 15 points.
UH forward Iwona Zagrobelna had to be helped from the court after going down with a left knee injury at the 6:15 mark of the second half. The extent of the injury wasn't clear after the game. SJSU's Alisha Hicks also left the game with an injury late in the game.
WAC standings
|
WAC |
|
|
|
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Fresno State |
11 |
1 |
.916 |
-- |
16 |
9
|
Boise State |
11 |
2 |
.846 |
1/2 |
19 |
6
|
New Mexico State |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
2 |
19 |
6
|
Nevada |
9 |
4 |
.692 |
2 1/2 |
18 |
8
|
Louisiana Tech |
6 |
6 |
.500 |
5 |
12 |
13
|
Utah State |
4 |
8 |
.333 |
7 |
8 |
16
|
Hawaii |
4 |
8 |
.333 |
7 |
10 |
15
|
Idaho |
1 |
12 |
.076 |
10 1/2 |
2 |
23 |
|
San Jose State |
1 |
12 |
.076 |
10 1/2 |
2 |
24 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 61, San Jose St. 47
Today
Fresno State at Utah State
Hawaii 61, San Jose St. 47
Spartans (2-24, 1-12 WAC)
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min
|
Sumler |
1-3 |
1-4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
20
|
White |
6-21 |
2-2 |
5 |
3 |
15 |
0 |
4 |
33
|
Hicks |
2-7 |
0-0 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
26
|
Imaku |
2-3 |
0-0 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
27
|
Powell |
1-8 |
2-2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
23
|
Edingburgh |
0-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Martin |
0-6 |
0-0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11
|
Barnes |
1-5 |
4-4 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
22
|
Nichols |
3-8 |
0-0 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
23
|
Davis |
1-3 |
0-0 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
12
|
TEAM |
|
|
4 |
|
|
|
|
Totals |
17-65 |
9-12 |
31 |
25 |
47 |
11 |
23 |
200 |
Rainbow Wahine (10-15, 4-8 WAC)
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min
|
Hittle |
3-5 |
9-13 |
8 |
0 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
32
|
Tinnin |
2-9 |
0-2 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
30
|
Kotani |
2-3 |
0-0 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
17
|
Cariaga |
5-11 |
3-3 |
9 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
7 |
35
|
Smith |
5-6 |
0-2 |
12 |
3 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
35
|
Liepkalne |
2-3 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
13
|
Kanekoa |
2-6 |
1-2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
25
|
Zagrobelna |
1-1 |
3-6 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
13
|
TEAM |
|
|
1
|
Totals |
22-44 |
16-28 |
46 |
14 |
61 |
14 |
33 |
200 |
Key -- fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime -- Hawaii 26, San Jose St. 21
3-point goals -- SJSU 4-17 (Nichols 3-8, White 1-8, Hicks 0-1), Hawaii 1-11(Kotani 1-1, Cariaga 0-2, Kanekoa 0-2, Tinnin 0-6).
Steals -- SJSU 14 (Hicks 6, Powell 4, Martin 2, Sumler, Edinburgh), Hawaii 4 (Zagrobelna 2, Tinnin, Smith). Blocked shots -- SJSU 0, Hawaii 8 (Zagrobelna 4, Smith 3, Hittle).
Officials -- Gator Parrish, Penny Davis, Kent Johnson. A-- 354.