Tuesday, March 2, 1999
Down, out
in Vegas
Having to play the host
By Paul Arnett
Lady Rebels was an unlucky
draw for the Wahine
basketball team
Star-BulletinLAS VEGAS -- From the day Kylie Page sprained her ankle to last night's disappointing 73-67 loss to Nevada-Las Vegas, luck hasn't been sitting on the bench with Hawaii head coach Vince Goo.
The Wahine played well enough the final part of the season to finish in a tie for third with BYU in the Pacific Division, only to lose the tie-breaker. Instead of opening with Tulsa -- a program barely two seasons old -- Hawaii drew the home team.
There's little doubt Hawaii would have put away UNLV had this been at the Stan Sheriff Center. Down 14 at the half, the Lady Rebels were playing like a team headed for a fall.
But due in part to the moral support of about 2,000 Thomas and Mack fans, and a breath-taking performance by freshman Linda Froehlich, UNLV won going away.
''We were worried going in that we had to play them on their home floor,'' Goo said. ''It was an unfortunate draw for us, but that's how the chips fall sometimes.
''They came out in the second half and really took it to us. They played well defensively and that Froehlich hit some crucial shots down the stretch. We didn't have an answer for her or how hard UNLV competed over the final 20 minutes.''
The Lady Rebels outscored the Wahine, 20-9, the first 10 minutes of the second half. Hawaii didn't hit its first field goal until Kyla Evers made a layup at the 15:56 mark, then went another 3:01 before scoring again on Crystal Lee's bucket.
UNLV scrambled for loose balls, trapped UH senior point guard BJ Itoman with a suffocating defense, then told Froehlich to go out and score 40 points, grab 12 rebounds, force five steals and block four shots.
The transfer from Germany went the full 40 minutes to give UNLV head coach Regina Miller a third try at top seed and No. 7-ranked Colorado State. The Lady Rebels (17-10) lost the two previous meetings.
''Maybe the third time is a charm,'' Miller said. ''If Linda goes out and performs like she did tonight, we have a chance. I thought her effort in the second half was phenomenal.''
''I haven't seen anybody play like that against us since Colorado State's Becky Hammon scored 39 points two years ago,'' Goo said. ''I don't want to take anything away from her effort, but she got some calls that killed us.''
The key one was a called charge she took from Hawaii's Raylene Howard with 1:15 left in the game. It appeared Howard initiated the contact on her drive to the bucket, but Froehlich had failed to establish her position.
''It was the only charge I had called for me this season,'' Froehlich said. ''To be honest with you, it could have gone either way.''
Unfortunately for Goo, it went against him. Howard fouled out of the game and Froehlich countered with a crucial 3-pointer 14 seconds later to put the game out of reach.
''We were down by only two (66-64) and Raylene was going in to score,'' Goo said. ''There's no way that's a charge. It should have been a two-shot foul and a chance for us to tie it at 66.''
And that wasn't the only whistle that went against Goo. He was called for a technical foul barely two minutes into the second half by official Jeff Caudle that contributed to UNLV's comeback.
''I had three technicals all year, two by this guy,'' an angry Goo said after the game. ''I was yelling at my girls and he gives me a T. The officiating was terrible.
''In the second half, they had 23 shots from the foul line. We had seven. That says a lot right there about how it went.''
Howard's fifth foul was critical. Without her leadership, the Wahine were lost. She finished with 23 points and five rebounds. Hawaii had four players in double figures. Itoman scored 12. Lee and Hedy Liu added 10 apiece. Liu also managed 10 rebounds.
It was the second consecutive year for the Wahine to lose in the first round of the WAC event. Last year, New Mexico won by 14 points. This year's defeat was particularly disappointing for Itoman, the only senior on the team.
''We wanted to win this game for BJ,'' Howard said. ''We all wanted a chance to play Colorado State, but it didn't work out. We couldn't stop (Froehlich) all night.
''We still had a good run. We came together after Kylie was injured. And I feel like we'll have a strong team next year. We were hoping to get a win here.''
In other first-round WAC tournament games:
Brigham Young 78, Tulsa 59: Amanda Covington scored 15 points and had seven assists and seven rebounds to lead the Cougars (16-11) over the Golden Hurricane (7-20).
At Las Vegas UNLV 73, Hawaii 67
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Dye 10 0 3 0 0 2 4 0 Johansson 37 3 6 0 0 1 2 8 Wolfe 28 6 8 0 2 8 3 12 Pool 28 2 3 2 4 3 4 6 Froehlich 40 14 28 11 13 12 0 40 Wunderlich 14 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 Webster 16 0 2 0 0 1 3 0 Brightwell 6 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Ingalls 19 2 3 3 7 3 2 7 Onion 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 2 Totals 200 27 55 16 26 34 21 73
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Lee 32 3 10 4 4 6 1 10 Liu 35 5 9 0 1 10 5 10 Howard 36 9 13 5 6 5 5 23 Itoman 40 5 11 0 1 2 4 12 Evers 34 2 8 4 4 3 4 8 Kohler 17 0 2 0 1 4 3 0 McMeeken 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Greeny 5 2 2 0 1 0 1 4 Team 2 Totals 200 26 55 13 18 33 24 67Halftime score--Hawaii 42, UNLV 28.3-point goals--UNLV 3-10 (Johansson 2-5, Froelich 1-4, Webster 0-1), UH 2-10 (Itoman 2-5, Lee 0-1, Howard 0-2, Evers 0-2).
Assists--UNLV 15 (Pool 8), UH 9 (Howard 3, Itoman 3). Turnovers--UNLV 18 (Dye 3, Pool 3, Froelich 3, Webster 3), UH 20 (Howard 5, Itoman 5). Steals--UNLV 11 (Froelich 5), UH 8
(Itoman 3). Blocked shots--UNLV 4 (Froelich 4), UH 0.
Technical--Hawaii bench.
A--1,224. Officials: Baque-Moreno, Barlow, Caudle.
