Friday, February 26, 1999
Wahine not sharp
but still win
The UH women's
Star-Bulletin staff
basketball team cruises
to 70-43 victorySAN JOSE, Calif. -- Hawaii women's basketball coach Vince Goo was concerned his team might not play up to its level entering last night's game against San Jose State.
The Spartans were on a 20-game losing streak and the Wahine had already clinched fourth place in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division.
"There were two things we didn't do, play with intensity on the defensive end and play our level of basketball," Goo said.
"We knew it would be difficult to get up for a team that's 2-23, but I looked on it as a test of our maturity."
Hawaii took advantage of 20 first-half Spartan turnovers to build a 38-18 lead, then gave everyone playing time in the second half of a 70-43 victory.
Ten of the 11 Wahine scored, led by Raylene Howard's 21 points.
San Jose State (2-24 overall, 0-13 WAC) led once, 3-2. Two free throws by Hedy Liu put Hawaii (16-9, 8-5) in the lead and the Wahine slowly pulled away. Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe's 3-pointer at the 10:07 mark put the lead in double digits (19-9) and the margin got as high as 35 points on Sarah Petersen's layup with eight minutes to play.
The Wahine shot 37 percent (25-of-67) from the field, which is below their average, but held the Spartans to 27 percent (15-of-56) .
"It was ragged, both from starters and the people that came off the bench," Goo said. "A lot of times we took short cuts and didn't do the small things we have being doing all season."
Hawaii ends the regular season tomorrow at Fresno State. The Bulldogs clinched the final Pacific Division tournament berth last night by defeating San Diego State, 68-55.
The Wahine's opponent in the first round of the Qwest WAC Women's Tournament is Nevada-Las Vegas.
At San Jose, Calif. Hawaii 70, San Jose State 43
Wahine (16-9 overall; 8-5 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Lee 29 4 12 0 0 4 2 9 Howard 34 7 13 7 9 7 1 21 Liu 16 1 5 4 6 6 0 6 Itoman 32 3 6 0 0 2 0 9 Evers 18 2 7 0 0 4 3 4 Kohler 18 1 7 3 4 8 0 5 Greeny 13 1 1 0 0 2 4 2 M.-Ruscoe 18 0 8 0 0 1 2 5 Forsberg 8 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 S.-Vasconcellos 8 2 3 0 0 1 1 5 Petersen 6 2 4 0 0 1 2 4 Team 3 Totals 200 25 67 14 19 42 15 70
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Barrett 10 1 1 2 2 2 1 5 Dailey 32 1 6 4 6 6 2 6 McGee 32 1 6 1 2 7 2 3 Johnson 22 3 9 0 0 2 0 7 Gluhan 26 3 4 0 0 3 2 8 Smith 25 5 17 2 2 6 3 12 Omar 12 1 6 0 0 4 1 2 Harris 14 0 2 0 0 5 2 0 Modin 17 0 2 0 1 5 4 0 Dagnino 10 0 3 0 0 2 1 0 Team 2 Totals 200 15 56 9 13 44 18 43Halftime score--Hawaii 38, San Jose State 18.3-point goals--UH 6-20 (Itoman 3-5, Spencer-Vasconcellos 1-2, Lee 1-4, McMeeken-Ruscoe 1-5, Howard 0-1, Evers 0-3), SJS 4-12 (Barrett 1-1, Gluhan 2-3, Johnson 1-5, Smith 0-1, Dagnino 0-2).
Assists--UH 17 (Howard 6), SJS 7 (Harris 3). Turnovers--UH 16 (Lee 4), SJS 31 (Gluhan 9). Steals--UH 8 (Spencer-Vasconcellos 2), SJS 7 (McGee 2). Blocked shots--UH 0, SJS 2 (McGee 2). A--404. Officials: Barlow, Guzman, Hansen.
