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Thursday, March 9, 2000
Wahine advance
to semis
Hawaii wins its 20th game
by routing UTEP; will take on
Rice in tomorrow's gameRealAudio: Live 'Net broadcast Click Here
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinFRESNO, Calif. - The road leading to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament women's final is filled with speed bumps and tricky on-ramps.
But both the University of Hawaii and Rice found easy routes to a semifinal collision at Selland Arena.
The second-seeded Wahine (20-7) routed Texas-El Paso, 77-48, and the third-seeded Owls (19-9) cruised past Fresno State, 65-47, in last night's quarterfinals.
Tomorrow's game (12:30 HST) between Hawaii and Rice will be the rubber match of the season for the teams.
In tomorrow's first semifinal (10 a.m. HST), top-seeded Southern Methodist (20-7) will face fourth-seeded Tulsa (14-14).
"I expect them to come after us hard,'' Rice coach Cristy McKinney said of the Wahine. "We played very well against them at our place, and I think they'll remember that.''
Rice avenged a 71-66 loss on Jan. 20 at Stan Sheriff Center with a 77-59 victory at home on Feb. 20.
McKinney was asked if neutralizing the WAC's top scorer, Raylene Howard, and her Down Under teammate, Kylie Galloway, is the key to beating the Wahine.
"They have a lot of weapons," said McKinney. "We talk about Raylene Howard and Kylie Galloway, but Kyla Evers has had big games, No. 50 (Dainora Puida) has had big games.
"You have to know where Howard and Galloway are, but you can not forget the rest of their players because they can all hurt you."
Last night, UTEP kept a tether on Hawaii during a first half that saw Howard, Galloway and Evers get into early foul trouble. After three ties and three lead changes, the Miners trailed, 31-24, at intermission.
But Hawaii switched to a zone trap and exploded for a 20-0 run in the second half to turn a 45-38 advantage into a 65-38 runaway.
"We created a lot of turnovers and got our running game going," said Hawaii head coach Vince Goo.
"They turned it up and we're too young to know how to deal with that," said Miners head coach Sandra Rushing.
UTEP committed 16 of its 27 turnovers in the second half.
Wahine junior Crystal Lee scored 12 points to lead the Wahine and Howard, a senior soon to be named District 7 All-American, had 11.
"People came off the bench and performed (in the first half)," said senior center Hedy Liu.
One of the critical bench contributions came from 6-5 freshman Christen Roper, who scored four points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots in a super-charged seven-minute stint in the first half.
Roper was instrumental in rallying Hawaii from a 16-15 deficit to a 23-16 lead.
"We were not shooting exceptionally well before that point but she went in and got some offensive rebounds and had some putbacks," said Goo.
Roper finished with six points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Liu also had a big game with nine points, six rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
"This is postseason and you either get the job done or you go home," said Liu.
Rice 65, Fresno State 47:
The Owls' Marla Brumfield scored 16 points to lead three teammates in double digits.Tiffany Lewis and Amanda Baker each had 13 points for the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (11-18).
Tulsa 64, TCU 56:
The Golden Hurricane (14-14) got 16 points from both Carla Morrow and Lila Osceola. Diamond Jackson scored 15 points to pace the Horned Frogs (16-14).
SMU 76, San Jose State 45:
Nici Johnson and Karlin Kennedy scored 14 points apiece to lead the Mustangs. Megan Gluhan had 13 points for the Spartans (3-24).
WAC TOURNAMENT
Yesterday's first-round resultsHawaii 77, Texas-El Paso 48
Rice 65, Fresno State 47
Southern Methodist 99, San Jose State 56
Tulsa 64, Texas Christian 56Tomorrow's semifinal-round games
Hawaii (20-7) vs. Rice (19-9), 12:30 p.m.
Southern Methodist (20-7) vs. Tulsa (14-14)Saturday's championship game
Tomorrow's winners
HAWAII 76, TEXAS -EL PASO 48
Miners (5-22 overall)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Drummond 0 3 0 0 16 3 0 0 Garza 5 15 1 2 35 4 2 12 Pack 2 9 4 4 23 7 1 9 Doumerc 1 6 1 2 38 3 4 3 Guild 2 2 2 2 18 0 0 6 Thomas 0 0 1 2 11 3 0 1 Mata 1 7 3 3 31 5 4 5 Walter 6 10 0 1 28 7 0 12 Team 3 Totals 17 52 12 16 200 35 11 48
Wahine (20-7 overall)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Galloway 3 8 2 2 19 2 1 9 Liu 3 9 3 5 25 6 1 9 Howard 4 10 3 3 24 5 4 11 Lee 3 8 5 6 29 2 4 12 Evers 3 11 1 2 31 3 4 7 Forsberg 1 2 0 0 9 1 2 3 McMeeken-Rusc 3 6 2 2 21 2 3 9 Spencer-Vascnls 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 Kohler 2 3 0 0 14 3 0 4 Roper 2 3 2 2 11 8 1 6 Gabriel 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Puida 1 3 2 2 11 4 0 4 Team 7 Totals 26 64 20 24 200 43 16 77 Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime score-Hawaii 31, Texas-El Paso 24
3-point goals-UTEP 2-13 (Pack 1-1, Garza 1-7, Doumerc 0-2, Mata 0-3), UH 5-15 (Forsberg 1-1, Spencer-Vasconcellos 1-1, Galloway 1-1, McKeeken-Ruscoe 1-2, Lee 1-4, Evers 0-3, Howard 0-3 ). Personal fouls-UTEP 19, UH 16. Fouled out-Pack. Steals-UTEP 7 (Garza, Pack 2), UH 12 (Liu 3). Blocked shots-UTEP 1 (Pack), UH 7 (Liu 4). Turnovers-UTEP 27 (Doumerc 8), UH 15 (Kohler, Puida 3). Technicals-none. Officials-Morris, Garrett, Schlabach. A-not announced.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
