Goo prepares
Wahine for life
on the road
By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin
"The key for both games is how well we handle ourselves on the road," Hawaii head women's basketball coach Vince Goo said. "When you have a veteran team, you can predict pretty close what their performance will be, but we have just one senior."
For the first and only time this season, Goo talked to his team Monday about certain aspects of road trips.
"We talked about altitude, the crowds, the focus fouls (like three seconds in the lane) and that's the last time we'll talk about that," he said. "There are no excuses."
During stretching, Goo simulated some of the name calling the team might be subjected to on the road.
The Wahine will again take wheat grass, prepared in a food processor. Wheat grass juice is 70 percent chlorophyll. The brain and body tissues function at an optimal level in a highly-oxygenated environment. The Wahine started taking wheat grass when the women's program moved into the Western Athletic Conference and its high-altitude venues.
The players also received a suggested high altitude diet -- plenty of fruits and vegetables, lots of liquids -- and a list of what not to eat -- red meats, fried foods and candy.
Brigham Young Cougars
Coach: Trent Shippen (2nd season, 22-20).
Season: 7-6 (1-0 WAC).
Top players: Jill Adams, 6-3 junior center, 11.1 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game; Cady Williams, 5-11 junior guard, 13.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg; Amanda Covington, 5-5, senior guard, 7.2 ppg.
Interesting facts: UH leads the series, 4-3, but lost the only game played in Provo ... Hawaii has played in Utah just once, a six-game, season-opening trip in 1981 ... This is the first WAC game between the schools ... Raylene Howard is 9th on the UH career scoring list with 1,033 points ... Adams was named Pacific Division player of the week after a 17-point effort in last Saturday's victory over Utah. She also had a game-high 12 rebounds and five steals.
Keys to the game: The Cougars play man-to-man defense 90 percent of the time ... UH may be able to use its power game more than last weekend, although BYU has good height and quality players in the paint ... The Wahine must avoid becoming timid on offense if early shots don't fall. This is especially true with the perimeter game ... Williams and Covington hit the 3-pointer consistently ... Turnovers have plagued the Cougars (24 per game), but they rebound well and are averaging four blocked shots per game ... The Wahine must crash the boards effectively, as they did against New Mexico ... UH shooting guard Kyla Evers watched practice Monday as her right knee swelled up again.
Tipoff: 4 p.m. Hawaii time at the Marriott Center
On the air: Live on KCCN radio (1420-AM)
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
