Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Saturday, February 10, 2001
Wahine put Dainora Puida played two distinctly different halves last night.
hammer down
Puida and Lee key a second
half rally to break Fresno StateBy Al Chase
Star-BulletinThe better half came after intermission, and it helped the Hawaii women's basketball team break open a close game.
The Wahine won their fifth consecutive WAC contest, defeating Fresno State, 68-49, before 926 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Puida, the 6-foot-4 center from Lithuania who comes off the bench about five minutes into a game, scored just two points on 1-for-5 shooting in the first half.
In the second half, Puida hit a couple of short jumpers, canned a 3-pointer, made layups and sank putbacks in an 8-for-9 display.
"I just tried to shoot better, be more focused. I think it worked." Puida said in an understatement. "I think sometimes I rush my shots and today I tried to take my time and that's why I did better."
Puida and Crystal Lee sparked an eight-minute surge that saw UH pump a seven-point lead up to 21 with 6:26 remaining.
Lee, who had 18 points, scored six consecutive points, and Puida had nine points sandwiched around a three-point play by Natasja Allen.
During that spurt, the Bulldogs lost leading scorer Lindsay Logan at 10:16 when she was called for charging, hit the floor hard and bruised her left thigh.
Logan did not return and finished with six points, the first time she hasn't scored in double figures this season.
Puida collected 13 rebounds to complete her second consecutive double-double. Lee just missed her third in three games with 18 points and nine rebounds.
"We had Dainora moving more than just posting up in the second half. We had a little more movement in our offense and it kind of opened up some inside things quickly," UH head coach Vince Goo said.
The halftime message also included a call for more intensity on defense, more aggressiveness on the boards and more running when possible.
"We said let's see if we can fill the lanes and get a good push up the floor. We ran pretty good in the second half," Goo said.
The first half was not very good Division I basketball. Neither team hit more then 29 percent of its field goal attempts. For 2 1/2
minutes, UH led, 1-0.
Fresno State extended its zone further from the basket than a week ago and it took Hawaii some time to adjust.
The Wahine only made nine of 33 field goal attempts.
However, they took care of the ball better than in any half this season, committing just four turnovers. They had 12 for the game, a season low.
The spark for the second half may have been ignited just before the break. Lee sank a 3-pointer to give UH a 24-22 lead with 0:27 left.
The Bulldogs' attempt at a tie or the lead was thwarted when Jana Gabrielova stole the ball from Logan at midcourt and raced in for a crowd-pleasing layup with eight ticks on the clock.
Goo credited his bench with playing well, so well in fact, that with nine minutes to go and a planned rotation coming up, he told the reserves to take the rest of the game.
Allen finished with six points. Michelle Gabriel ran the offense for 12 minutes. Karena Greeny had four defensive rebounds as did Christa Brossman.
"I'm definitely in there for defense first," Brossman said. "Coming out of high school I was a scorer, but I've never been a pure shooter from outside.
"Coming in here I knew that would be different. We have great players. I need to work on my game offensively, but my strength has always been defense. I know where the cuts are and I know how to play a player who is quicker on the wing.
"The last two games, I've been out there to deny the girl the ball. That's my main duty out there.
"My dad was my coach in high school and I've just always been taught defense."
After redshirting last year with an injury and missing most of this season with another injury, forward Julia Washington played her first minute for UH last night.
The Bulldogs have lost 12 consecutive games to UH, the longest current streak of any FSU rival.
Hawaii 68, Fresno State 49
Bulldogs (8-14, 4-6 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Logan 2 9 1 2 26 6 0 6 Simon 5 13 2 4 34 1 0 12 Paukert 2 8 3 4 36 6 1 8 High 1 4 4 4 37 8 2 6 Udeze 6 11 0 1 31 8 0 13 Fagundes 0 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 Clark 2 9 0 0 28 7 1 4 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 16 56 10 15 200 41 4 49 Wahine (17-4, 8-2 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Galloway 4 11 1 3 27 7 2 9 Gabrielova 2 6 0 0 29 1 4 4 Roper 1 3 2 2 18 4 1 2 Brossman 0 2 0 1 16 4 1 0 Gabriel 0 2 0 0 12 0 1 0 Washington 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Lee 3 14 9 13 30 9 2 18 Puida 9 14 1 2 25 13 1 20 Atuaia 3 7 2 2 20 2 2 9 Allen 2 6 2 5 9 2 0 6 Greeny 0 1 0 1 13 4 2 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 24 66 15 26 200 48 16 68 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 26. Fresno State 22.
3-point goals-FSU 3-11 (Udeze 1-1, Paukert 1-3, Logan 1-5, Fagundes 0-1, Clark 0-1), UH 5-16, (Puida 1-1, Atuaia 1-2, Lee 3-7, Gabriel 0-1, Greeny 0-1, Galloway 0-2, Gabrielova 0-2). Personal fouls-FSU 20, UH 12. Fouled out-none. Steals-FSU 2 (Logan, Simon), UH 6 (Lee 2). Blocked shots-FSU 7 (High 3), UH 5 (Roper 3). Turnovers-FSU 22 (Logan 8), UH 12 (Lee 3). Technicals-none. Officials-Fujimoto, Myles, Yamasaki. A-926.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
