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Saturday, March 10, 2001
Wahine lose TULSA, Okla. -- A furious rally by the University of Hawaii Wahine fell short and Texas Christian won the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball championship, 66-58, today at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
in WAC finals
Hawaii's rally falls short in
66-58 setback to TCU in
WAC championshipBy Al Chase
Star-Bulletin
Hawaii, shooting for its first WAC title, dug itself a huge hole in the first half by connecting on just 15 percent (5-for-33) of its field goal attempts. This was a big factor in the Lady Horned Frogs (24-7) taking a 16-point (34-18) into the locker room at halftime.
"They were all good shots. We're a little tired mentally and that may have affected our shooting a little bit," Hawaii head coach Vince Goo said.
The Wahine were able to work their power game, but layup after layup failed to fall. Hoping to open up the middle with 3-point accuracy failed when UH could only make two of nine.
TCU increased the lead to 19 points, 57-38, with 8:14 to play, with a 9-0 run. At this point, the Wahine, who hit 52 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half, began a 16-4 run that cut the TCU gap to five points, 61-56, with 44.8 seconds left.
With the clock against them, the Wahine had to foul and the Lady Horned Frogs converted 5-of-6 free throws, which more than offset Jana Gabrielova's basket with 13 ticks on the clock.
During UH's late rally, Dainora Puida had five points and Gabrielova four.
Galloway, who was named to the all-tournament team, led the Wahine with 21 points. Puida, also an all-tournament selection, finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Senior Crystal Lee was held to just six points while Gabrielova finished with 8.
TCU's Tricia Payne, the tournament MVP, topped all scorers with 26 points.
The Lady Horned Frogs held a 49-45 edge in rebounds with Janice Thomas and Amy Porter hauling in 11 and 10, respectively.
Amy Porter of TCU and D-dra Rucker of Southern Methodist also made the all-tournament team.
The Wahine return home tomorrow on United Airlines flight 55 at 6:46 p.m. They will learn en route if the NCAA selection committee deems them worthy of an at-large berth.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
TULSA, Okla. -- There's one less headache for the NCAA women's basketball selection committee and one less worry for the Western Athletic Conference. Wahine climb to
WAC finals todayHawaii women catch SMU and
take over in overtime; to meet
TCU in the title gameBy Al Chase
Star-BulletinThanks to semifinal victories yesterday by second-seeded Hawaii and top-seeded Texas Christian, there is no spoiler remaining to take away a possible second NCAA Tournament berth.
No lower seeded team will win the title and cast a dark cloud over the postseason chances of the top two seeds the way Rice (seeded No. 3) did a year ago when the Owls won the WAC tournament.
The Wahine (23-6) and the Lady Frogs (27-3) represent the best the WAC has to offer.
Yesterday, Dainora Puida scored 23 of her 25 points after intermission to lead Hawaii to a 97-88 overtime victory over Southern Methodist.
In the first semifinal, Kati Safaritova scored 18 points and TCU used a 3-point binge to break away from Rice in a 76-58 victory.
"That's definitely what had to happen for both of us. It gives the loser a better chance of receiving an at-large berth," said UH assistant coach Jon Newlee.
The Wahine can remove all doubt by defeating TCU in today's final.
According to Newlee, the talk among the league coaches and officials here was that the WAC was a '1' (selection) conference with the runner-up on the bubble.
"Now the WAC should be a '2,' " Newlee said.
TCU and UH have the two highest RPI ratings in the WAC. By playing the Horned Frogs a third time, the Wahine will benefit since TCU's RPI rating has been strong all year due to a preseason game against top-ranked Tennessee.
Whether the Wahine have enough left to win their first WAC Tournament crown is another question.
Kylie Galloway, Crystal Lee and Jana Gabrielova played just about every minute yesterday. A lot of energy was expended playing catch-up for the first 40 minutes, then getting and holding a lead in the extra period.
Puida has scored 48 points and grabbed 26 rebounds in the two WAC Tournament wins. She is 15-for-26 from the field and 15-for-17 from the free throw line.
Lee started the SMU game 0-for-5 from the field but connected on 7 of her next 13 attempts.
TCU 76, Rice 58:
Kati Safaritova scored 18 points and the Lady Frogs used a 3-point binge to break away from Rice.Amy Porter had 15 points and her twin sister, Jill Sutton, scored 14 for TCU. Rice (18-12) was led by Lindsey Maynard and Kenya Tuttle with 16 points.
The No. 1 Lady Frogs are 23-7 going into the title game today.
WAC WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT
At Tulsa, Okla.Today
Hawaii vs. Texas Christian, 8:30 a.m. (HST)
Yesterday
Hawaii 97. Southern Methodist 88
Hawaii 97, Southern Methodist 88, OT
Lady Mustangs (16-12, 12-6)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Rucker 7 18 0 0 2 5 16 29 Glover 3 6 0 0 4 2 6 27 Remke 3 5 0 0 4 0 6 23 Brown 2 3 0 0 4 0 5 22 Cossey 5 12 2 3 4 1 14 35 Calvert 4 11 2 2 4 2 13 25 Ramdhanny 2 4 1 1 3 1 5 11 McPeters 1 2 0 0 1 0 2 15 Alexander 7 14 3 4 7 1 17 21 Patton 2 7 0 0 3 0 4 17 Team 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 36 82 8 10 38 12 88 225
Wahine (23-6, 14-4)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Galloway 7 14 2 2 3 4 19 43 Lee 7 18 7 9 9 0 21 44 Roper 3 5 0 0 5 0 6 17 Gabrielova 3 8 5 10 2 7 12 45 Atuaia 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 19 Brossman 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 9 Gabriel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ Puida 8 14 7 8 16 3 25 28 Allen 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 Greeny 3 6 4 6 5 2 11 18 Team 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Totals 32 67 26 36 50 17 97 225 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-Southern Methodist 34, Hawaii 28
3-point goals-SMU 8-20 (Calvert 3-6, Rucker 2-4, Cossey 2-3, Brown 1-2, Alexander 0-2, Patton 0-2, Ramdhanny 0-1), Hawaii 7-17 (Galloway 3-7, Puida 2-4, Gabrielova 1-3, Greeny 1-1, Lee 0-2). Personal fouls-SMU 27, Hawaii 15. Fouled out--Rucker, Remke, Patton, Atuaia. Technical fouls--none. Steals-SMU 7 (Rucker 3, Remke, Brown, Alexander, Patton), Hawaii 4 (Lee, Gabrielova, Puida, Greeny). Blocked shots-SMU 1 (Remke), Hawaii 0. Turnovers-SMU 12 (Cossey 3, Rucker 2, Ramdhanny 2, Alexander 2, Glover, Remke, Calvert), Hawaii 14 (Puida 5, Lee 2, Atuaia 2, Greeny 2, Galloway, Roper, Gabrielova). Officials-Larson, Adams, Hermann.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii