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Monday, January 17, 2000

Goo likes new
Wahine look

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Two adjustments, one planned and one out of necessity, helped spell victory for Hawaii in Saturday night's Western Athletic Conference game at Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas Christian runs a four-guard offense that has the Lady Horned Frogs firing away from 3-point range. In fact, TCU is on a pace to break the national record of 266 3-pointers made in a season.

To counter the Lady Horned Frogs chief weapon, UH head coach Vince Goo moved Kylie Galloway to the four spot (power forward), put Raylene Howard in the three spot (small forward) and inserted Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe into the lineup as the shooting guard (two spot). Then, in Friday's practice, starting point guard Kyle Evers sprained her left ankle.

"I warmed up before the game, tried to do everything, but I would have been worthless, especially since they wanted in-your-shorts defense," Evers said. "Maj (Forsberg) took over and did a good job."

So did sophomore Ki'i Spencer-Vasconcellos, who backed up Forsberg.

"Maj did a great job and Ki'i gave us some good minutes," Goo said. "Both handled the TCU pressure well and they played pressure defense well. They were able to get us into our offense."

The Wahine (10-5 overall, 2-1 WAC) held TCU (10-7, 1-2) to a mere 10 3-point attempts with just two connecting. The philosophy behind the tight defense was simple. If the Horned Frogs were busy dribbling, they couldn't be shooting.

McMeeken-Ruscoe, the sophomore from New Zealand making her first collegiate start, responded with a team-high 22 points. She was 6-of-8 from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point land and made 5-of-6 free throws.

"Kate played with composure. Her shot is the same as last year, but now she is shooting with confidence. In that respect, she has moved to another level," Goo said.

Galloway and Howard contributed 19 and 18 points, respectively, in the 70-62 win.

Goo liked the results of the new-look lineup and plans to use it more often.

WAC Women

		Conference		Overall
Team		W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct
So. Methodist	2	0	1.000	9	5	.643
Tulsa		2	0	1.000	6	8	.429
Hawaii		2	1	.667	10	5	.667
Texas-El Paso	1	1	.500	4	10	.286
Texas Christian	1	2	.333	10	8	.556
Rice		0	1	.000	8	5	.615
Fresno St.	0	1	.000	7	8	.467
San Jose St.	0	2	.000	2	12	.143

Saturday's results

Hawaii 70, Texas Christian 62
Southern Methodist 80, San Jose State 42
Tulsa 59, Rice 58
Texas-El Paso 66, Fresno State 61 (OT)

Thursday's games

Rice at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Southern Methodist at Texas-El Paso
Texas Christian at Fresno State
Tulsa at San Jose State

Saturday's games

Tulsa at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Southern Methodist at Fresno State
Texas Christian at Texas-El Paso
Rice at San Jose State