StarBulletin.com

Wahine finally get first victory


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POSTED: Wednesday, December 03, 2008

A new source of offense joined some old ones to give the Hawaii women's basketball team its first win of the season.

Allie Patterson scored a career-high 20 in her first start for UH and Megan Tinnin and Dita Liepkalne added 18 apiece as the Rainbow Wahine defeated Utah Valley 77-70 before a gathering of 154 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Point guard Keisha Kanekoa added 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for Hawaii (1-6), which snapped an eight-game losing streak going back to last season.

There was a sense of relief that the team nabbed a win before its first true road trip of the season, the Arizona State Tournament this weekend.

“;Finally,”; said Tinnin, who scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half. “;Getting a win, then going to this Arizona tournament is good for us, I think.”;

Center Sarah Ilic was inactive with a head injury, clearing the way for Patterson to enter the starting lineup.

She shot 8-for-11, grabbed seven rebounds and finished with a block and a steal.

“;It was awesome,”; said Patterson, whose previous UH best was nine. “;I didn't know whether to be scared, or say, 'Let's just do this.' I guess it didn't show, huh?”;

Julie McMurray scored a career-high 30 points for Division I independent Utah Valley (2-4), which made several runs in the second half.

“;It's a win, and we got some good performances from people,”; Hawaii coach Jim Bolla said. “;Our concern with Allie isn't offense, it's defense, and she did a good job on their post people tonight.”;

The Wahine went up 46-32 on a Patterson basket with 13 minutes, 58 seconds left. But UVU responded with a 15-4 run to close to 50-47 with 10:12 to play.

Instead of folding, Hawaii went back to its source of instant offense: Patterson. She scored on a three-point play and hit a baseline jumper to push the lead back to double digits.

Turnovers (24) were still a concern for the Wahine, but they faced a team averaging more giveaways per game; UVU couldn't keep a handle on the ball when it mattered down the stretch.

Hawaii did a good job collapsing the paint on predictable entry passes by the Wolverines. UVU did little to discourage the Wahine from playing zone by going just 3-for-13 on 3-pointers in the first half.

The Wolverines were crippled early when their star, senior forward Robyn Fairbanks, went to the bench with her second foul just 4 minutes into the game. She came on strong late, but the missed time clearly hurt her team's chances as she finished with 15.

 

Hawaii 77, Utah Valley 70

Wolverines (2-4)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

FG-AFT-ARBPFPTSATOMIN
McMurray10-196-1032392439
Reynolds0-30-06401217
Faribanks6-102-354150121
Marvin-Wall3-104-611113334
Nakayama1-30-03326331
Smith0-00-0000012
Johnson0-00-0010002
Beaman2-20-00351210
Newbold0-20-03100114
Burningham3-100-04172230
TEAM

4



 
Totals25-5912-192920701519200

Rainbow Wahine (1-6)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

FG-AFT-ARBPFPTSATOMIN
Liepkalne7-141-363183137
Patterson8-113-373201331
Cho0-11-23213329
Tinnin7-131-223180635
Kanekoa5-96-671167634
Hamilton1-30-00223116
Arbuckle1-10-0212019
Dew0-10-0210021
Jones0-30-0120018
TEAM

7


 

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 31, Utah Valley 23. Regulation- Hawaii 77, Utah Valley 70.

3-point goals - Utah Valley 8-27 (McMurray 4-10, Beaman 1-1, Fairbanks 1-2, Marvin-Wall 1-6, Bruningham 1-6, Nakayam 0-2), Hawaii 7-17( Liepkalne 3-5, Tinnin 3-7, Patterson 1-1, Cho 0-1, Kanekoa 0-1, Hamilton 0-2).

Steals - Utah Valley 11 (Marvin-Wall 4, Fairbanks 2, Nakayama 2, McMurray, Reynolds, Burningham), Hawaii 10 (Kanekoa 5, Hamilton 2, Liepkalne, Patterson, Arbuckle). Blocked shots - Hawaii 3 (Patterson, Tinnin, Kanekoa).

Officials - Brian Yamasaki, Kirk Hottendorf, Lisa Mann. A-942.