Monday, December 14, 1998
Wahine let
Gaels slip
away in OT
St. Mary's rallies from a
By Al Chase
20-point, first-half deficit to overtake UH
Star-BulletinThe micro seconds at the end of regulation and the 24 seconds at the end of overtime may stick in the minds of 915 Wahine fans as the crucial moments in Hawaii's 71-68 overtime loss to St. Mary's at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.
But, the last seven minutes, 55 seconds of the first half were the most damaging for UH. That's when St. Mary's fought back in the Hawaii Invitational basketball tournament second-round game.
During that time span, the Gaels (6-2) trimmed a 28-8 deficit to three (29-26) at the half by holding UH (5-3) to just one free throw.
The Wahine contributed immensely to the Gaels' rally by going 0-for-5 from the floor, turning the ball over five times and missing the front end of 1-and-1 free throw situations three consecutive times. It was UH's worst scoring drought of the season.
"When you get fouled and don't make the free throws, it's just like a turnover," UH captain BJ Itoman said.
The Gaels fell into the early 20-point abyss by going 2 for 18 from the field in the first 12 minutes of play. For the most part, they were taking shots inside the 3-point arc, but they were not falling.
"I used 12 players during that span just to see if someone could step up," St. Mary's coach Kelly Graves. "I knew it was a matter of time. What I was concerned about was we weren't stopping them at the other end."
"We knew we were 28-8 or what ever it was because they were missing their shots. We were doing what we wanted to do (on defense) but we knew they were a better shooting ball club and would get their share of baskets," UH coach Vince Goo said.
Eventually, Graves decided he had to attack from outside the 3-point line and suddenly the Gaels' fortunes changed.
In the 7:55 leading up to intermission, 5-11 forward Stacey Berg made 3-of-4 3-pointers and 6-2 junior forward Tracy Morris hit one. Morris also hit two jumpers from just inside the arc.
It didn't take long for the Gaels, who haven't faced a zone defense much this season, to play their way back into the game.
"We did something we've never worked on," Graves said. "The shots weren't falling and maybe it was more psychological, but we had to change something. We went to four (players) out and one in. Basically our the center was there just to occupy the defenders. We wanted to open up the perimeter. We didn't do anything drastic, just started making shots."
"We started to fall apart," UH's Kyla Evers said. "The defense was mixed up. The coaches said we weren't rotating properly."
In the UH zone defense, if the ball is on one side of the court, the opposing wing player on the opposite side is left open until the ball is passed that way. A combination of crisp passing and slow reaction on the part of the Wahine defense is costly. The Gaels were launching 3-point attempts unimpeded at times and the ball found all net.
"I know I was late getting out there a couple of times," Evers said.
And, with the Gaels making their shots, UH was taken out of its fast break game, a factor in building the early lead.
"Some players weren't shooting with confidence, especially when they made that run," Itoman said. "They were making there shots. You come down and try to focus on what you have to do, but perhaps some of us were thinking (about their shots) and putting pressure on ourselves. We can't do that, just play our game."
The lead changed hands eight times and the score was tied nine times in the second half. Neither team could get ahead by more than three points.
Erin Abraham's six-foot baseline jumper tied the score at 60 with 12 seconds left in regulation.
UH had two chances at a game winner. The first missed and Hedy Liu's seven-foot bank shot was ruled to come after the buzzer by referee Stan Gaxiola.
UH associated coach George Wolfe watched the replay frame by fame after the game. "It was the right call. The ball was still rolling off Hedy's hand as the buzzer sounded."
Hawaii led briefly (62-60) in overtime, then cut the deficit to 69-68 on five consecutive points by Raylene Howard who finished with 29 and a career-high 17 rebounds.
But, with 24 seconds left, the Wahine used 19 of them to foul and then it was the wrong Gael. Berg sank both free throws.
"We wanted to foul 54 (Jerkisha Dosty)," Goo said. "That's our fault. We should have told them if you can't get 54, get someone. We wanted to foul even before they inbounded the ball."
Itoman's 30-footer as time expired was off the mark.
"Twice this year we've had significant deficits and we haven't done the things necessary to get back in the game. I was really proud because it's the first time we've come back," Graves said.
The Wahine play Ohio State at 7 tonight. The Buckeyes were barely tested yesterday.
Ohio State 80, Texas Southern 32: All 11 Buckeyes (6-2) got at least 11 minutes of playing time. At one point in the second half the teams went three minutes and 43 seconds without scoring.
Texas Southern (2-8) committed 37 turnovers and shot just 23 percent from the floor against Ohio State's soft full-court press.
Larecha Jones led OSU with 15 points. Sheila Pena scored 10 for the Lady Tigers.
At Stan Sheriff Center
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Parker 19 0 1 0 0 1 5 0 Morris 37 8 18 4 6 9 4 21 Jerm. Dosty 20 1 3 0 0 8 5 2 Payne 37 5 12 0 0 2 2 12 Berg 33 4 7 3 4 3 2 15 Jolley 17 2 4 0 0 2 1 6 Abraham 17 3 7 0 1 2 2 6 Volmer 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Pranaityte 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Quintal 18 0 5 0 0 0 3 0 Jerk.Dosty 22 4 7 1 2 6 2 9 Team 1 Totals 225 27 66 8 13 34 26 71
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Lee 44 3 12 5 8 3 2 12 Howard 45 9 18 11 13 17 3 29 Liu 38 2 5 1 2 6 4 5 Itoman 44 4 11 2 2 4 0 11 Evers 42 4 6 1 3 2 2 9 Forsberg 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 McM.-Ruscoe 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 Kohler 7 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 Greeny 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 6 Totals 225 23 55 20 28 39 13 68Key: mp-minutes played. fgm-field goals made. fga-field goals attempted. ftm-free throws made. fta-free throws attempted. reb-rebounds. pf-personal fouls. pts-points scored.Halftime score--Hawaii 29, St. Mary's 26. End of regulation--Hawaii 60, St. Mary's 60.
3-point goals--StM 9-22 (Berg 4-6, Jolley 2-3, Payne 2-5, Morris 1-2, Volmer 0-1, Pranaityte 0-1, Quintal 0-4), UH 2-7 (Itoman 1-3, Lee 1-4).
Assists--StM 24 (Payne 9), UH 17 (Itoman 8). Turnovers--StM 13 (Quintal 4), UH 14 (Lee, Howard 4). Steals--StM 4 (Berg 4), UH 4 (Itoman 4). Blocked shots--StM 3 (Morris, Payne, Berg), UH 1 (Howard).
A--915 (tickets issued 1,488). Officials: Gaxiola, Tanibe, Lewis.
Ohio State: Porter 4-5 0-1 8, Moua 4-8 1-1 9, Brown 4-9 3-4 11, Lewis 1-1 0-0 2, Shenk 4-7 2-4 11, Ingham 1-1 2-2 4, Stanhope 1-4 1-2 3, Bogott 2-3 0-0, Barker 1-3 0-0 2, McCabe 4-8 3-4 11, Jones 6-12 2-2 15. Totals 32-61 14-20 80.
Texas Southern: Thomas 1-4 0-0 2, Williams 0-8 0-0 0, Smith 2-6 3-4 7, Randle 1-6 1-2 3, Murray 0-2 0-0 0, Arceneaux 2-2 0-0 4, Majors 1-5 2-2 4, Washington 0-1 0-0 0, Britton 1-6 0-1 2, Pena 3-7 2-5 10. Totals 11-47 8-14 32.
Halftime--Ohio State 48, Texas Southern 17. 3-point goals--Ohio State 2-5 (Shenk 1-2, Jones 1-3), Texas Southern 2-11 (Pena 2-3, Williams 0-4, Randle 0-4). Rebounds--Ohio State 40 (McCabe 10), Texas Southern 30 (Smith 10). Assists--Ohio State 19 (Lewis 4), Texas Southern 4 (Williams, Smith, Britton, Pena 1). Total fouls--Ohio State 15, Texas Southern 18.
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