WAHINE BASKETBALL PLAYBOOK
at Texas-El Paso Miners
Tipoff -- Tomorrow, 11 a.m., Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas.
Coaches -- Hawaii: Vince Goo, 14th season (271-119, .695); Texas-El Paso: Sandra Rushing, 11th season (121-164, .425).
Season -- Hawaii (10-3 overall, 1-1 conference); Texas-El Paso (6-9 overall, 2-2 conference).
Series -- Hawaii leads, 6-0. Last meeting: UH won, 77-48, March 8, 2000, in the first round of the WAC Tournament.
Top players -- Hawaii: Forward Kylie Galloway (6-foot Sr., 18.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game); forward Crystal Lee (5-11 Sr., 15.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg), and center Dainora Puida (6-4 Sr., 10.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg). Texas-El Paso: Forward/center Amy Pack (6-0 Soph., 20.7 ppg, 9.8 rpg); forward/center Heidi Walker (6-1 Soph., 14.4 ppg, 10.5 rpg); guard Christina Mata (5-5 Sr., 12.3 ppg in WAC), and guard Katie Pyle (5-8 Jr., 12.3 ppg in WAC).
Keys -- The Miners have found the range with their 3-point shots in the last five games, hitting 46 percent from beyond the arc. This is a big concern for Goo. ... UTEP has two outstanding sophomores in Pack and Walker, who score and rebound well. The Wahine defended Pack better each time they faced her a year ago, cutting her field goals from 10 to 4 to 3. Pack scored 32 points, was 16-for-17 at the free-throw line and had 14 rebounds in the double overtime win against San Jose State yesterday. ... The Wahine received the annual talk on the bus trip from campus to the airport yesterday about how they represent the university 24 hours a day in airports, hotels and restaurants while on the road. "If they can take care of those details, then they should be able to stay focused and take care of details on the basketball court," Goo said. ... It will be the first road trip for starters Jana Gabrielova and April Atuaia and top reserve Christa Brossman. "The first road trip is different for those who haven't been before. There is jet lag at times, but we can't use that as an excuse," UH captain Galloway said. ... The Wahine have never lost (3-0) at UTEP, and they don't want to start now, with one conference defeat on their record already.
Also of note -- The Wahine are fifth in the nation in field goal defense (.344). ... Offensively, UH is 15th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.397) and 16th in free-throw percentage (.756), numbers that can make a difference in close games. ... Hawaii is ranked No. 54 and 55 in the latest RPI ratings by CollegeRPI.com and Collegiate Basketball News, respectively. ... Sophomore center Christen Roper has blocked 38 shots this season and should surpass the UH single-season record (48) set by Nani Cockett in 1996-97. Roper is tied with Ayana Walker of Louisiana Tech for second in the nation with 2.9 blocks per game.
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Al Chase, Star-Bulletin
