Friday, February 12, 1999
Wahine rise
A stirring comeback
By Al Chase
lifts the UH women
over BYU
Star-BulletinHawaii head coach Vince Goo talked to his players at halftime about playing with courage.
BJ Itoman knew she had to do something to stop Brigham Young point guard Amanda Covington.
Kyla Evers told herself to just calm down and play better.
"Coach fired us up at halftime. We came out of the locker room really ready to play. We came out a little more poised, put more pressure on the ball and our help on the rotation was better," said Raylene Howard, who topped all scorers with 25 points.
There were many components to Hawaii's stirring rally, which netted the Wahine a 59-55 Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division victory over the Cougars last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A 7-2 run to close the first half helped give the Wahine a sense of renewed confidence entering the locker room. A 13-0 spurt to start the second half gave them the lead, which the Wahine surrendered just once, with 7:27 to play on Cady Williams third 3-pointer of the game.
Howard answered with a pair of jumpers and UH thwarted each BYU takeover attempt down the stretch by making key baskets and converting free throws.
The Cougars closed to within two points five times, but Howard sank two free throws and Itoman did likewise. Evers hit a short jumper off a feed from Crystal Lee, then stole the ball at midcourt, was fouled and made both attempts. With 15 seconds to play and nursing a two-point lead, UH successfully inbounded the ball and Itoman hit two more free throws.
"What a great turnaround for BJ. She willed herself to play well," said UH associate coach George Wolfe.
Hit on her left eyelid early in the first half, Itoman had trouble seeing for a while. She turned the ball over five times in the first half, four on steals by Covington, who scored five points and had four assists.
"It was one of the ugliest halves I've ever played," said Itoman. "I owe a lot to my teammates. They brought me back. I knew they still believed in me no matter how many turnovers I had. Defense is my constant. I saw the opposing point guard getting more confident. I couldn't let that happen. I had to bring her back down."
Covington had no steals, scored no points and had just two assists in the second half.
Lee, operating inside against a host of taller defenders, scored 12 points, led the team with four assists and had five steals.
"Playing against a taller team, it's more evident we have to play as a team because we have to front the post and get weak side help a lot," she said.
That's what the Wahine did in the second half. It was the first time they won a game they had trailed at intermission.
At Stan Sheriff Center Hawaii 59, Brigham Young 55
Cougars (12-9 overall; 6-3 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Henry-Cuff 30 4 9 1 3 7 2 9 Williams 33 8 12 2 2 4 4 21 Adams 26 3 8 0 0 8 5 7 Covington 37 2 6 0 0 3 3 5 Jensen 23 1 14 0 0 2 2 2 Hayes 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Griffith 23 3 5 0 0 1 3 8 Oscuthorpe 12 0 2 3 5 2 4 3 Van Komen 9 0 1 0 0 3 2 0 Burgess 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Team 6 Totals 200 21 48 6 10 37 27 55
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Lee 36 5 14 1 3 4 1 12 Howard 40 5 11 14 15 9 3 25 Liu 26 1 5 2 3 3 2 4 Itoman 34 1 5 6 8 0 1 8 Evers 33 4 7 2 2 2 2 10 Forsberg 6 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 McMeeken-Ruscoe 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Kohler 13 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 Greeny 10 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Team 2 Totals 200 16 46 25 31 23 13 59Key: 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--Brigham Young 30, Hawaii 21.
3-point goals--BYU 7-15 (Adams 1-1, Williams 3-4, Griffith 2-4, Covington 1-5, Jensen 0-1), UH 2-12 (Howard 1-1, Lee 1-6, Evers 0-1, Itoman 0-2, McMeeken-Ruscoe 0-2).
Assists--BYU 15 (Covington 6), UH 14 (Lee 4). Turnovers--BYU 32 (Henry-Cuff, Adams 6), UH 17 (Itoman 7). Steals--BYU 11 (Covington 4), UH 19 (Itoman 7). Blocked shots--BYU 2 (Adams, Van Komen), UH 1 (Lee). A--1,155 (tickets issued 1,629). Officials: Balque, Fujimoto, Castle.
