Thursday, March 22, 2001
Wahine in Two teams with tremendous pride in their defense surrendered as little as possible last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
WNIT final four
Hawaii gains a spot with a
52-21 victory over
Oklahoma StateBy Al Chase
Star-BulletinThe University of Hawaii Wahine held the Oklahoma State Cowgirls to .297 percent shooting from the field vs. their season average of .375 percent.
OSU, in turn, limited UH to .315 from the floor compared to the Wahine's .433 season average.
In a quarterfinal-round contest that was close throughout, the Wahine regained the lead with 1:17 to play on two free throws by April Atuaia, then hung on for a 52-51 victory in the Women's National Invitation Tournament game witnessed by 4,279 screaming fans.
Hawaii leaves today for Albuquerque, N.M., and plays the University of New Mexico Lobos Saturday at 4 p.m. HST in a semifinal matchup.
The Lobos defeated visiting Alabama-Birmingham, 77-55, last night. The other semifinal game has James Madison playing at Ohio State.
The difference between UH and OSU was slight. The Cowgirls were credited with 64 field goal attempts, but Hawaii blocked 10. Christen Roper stuffed six and Dainora Puida four.
Oklahoma State made 19 field goals to Hawaii's 17, but the Wahine went to the free-throw line 18 times and converted 14 while OSU missed five of 12 attempts.
"The missed free throws hurt," said OSU head coach Dick Halterman.
Despite the energetic man-to-man defense employed by both teams, the offenses exercised solid ball control. There were nine turnovers by each team. That number was a season low for the Wahine.
The UH coaches felt they could go with the power game if OSU started the same lineup it did against Nevada-Las Vegas in the second round.
"We didn't think any of them could handle Roper or Dainora if we went high low. When it's done perfectly, it's awesome," said UH assistant coach Jon Newlee, who handles the post players.
The Wahine had mixed results with the play. At times, the receiver of the lob pass found herself too far under the basket.
"They are supposed to hold their spot and not release until the ball is over their head, but they get excited and release too early. It's not always a bad pass," said Newlee.
Hawaii managed just one layup and one basket in the paint in the first half, but doubled the paint points in the second half and made five layups.
"You watch this team down the stretch and they don't want anyone to fail. There is no fear of failing because they support each other," said UH head coach Vince Goo. "This isn't something that develops at the end of the season. It's been there all year. And on the defensive end, they don't want to let their teammates down."
Once again, the Wahine received valuable minutes from their reserves. When Roper got into foul trouble midway through the first half, Natasja Allen came in, scored four points, grabbed a couple of rebounds and had an assist.
Late in the game, Christa Brossman and Karena Greeny spelled Crystal Lee and Atuaia for a couple of minutes.
"Those minutes helped us revitalize both our wing people," said Goo.
"I thought we came out in the second half much more fired up," said Lee, who shared scoring honors with Jana Gabrielova with 12 points.
The Cowgirls scored the first six points after intermission, but UH responded with a 12-1 run to lead 38-33 only to have OSU hit three consecutive treys and regain the lead. Puida's putback drew the Wahine even at 50-50 with 1:45 left setting the stage for Atuaia's winning free throws.
The Cowgirls had two attempts, by Trisha Skibbe, who led all scorers with 17 points, and Shelby Hutchins, at a winning basket with 12 seconds to go, but neither fell.
"We had two good shots hit the backboard. They were good looks," Halterman said. "Hawaii won it in front of a big crowd and that's good for women's basketball."
Hawaii 52, Oklahoma State 51
Oklahoma State (16-15)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Osborn 2 5 1 2 24 4 1 5 Spinner 0 1 0 0 27 2 3 0 Bates 1 9 0 0 15 0 0 2 Hutchens 1 5 0 0 29 4 7 3 Faulk 4 15 3 4 33 14 2 13 Roberts 1 4 0 0 9 3 1 2 Hawkins 3 9 0 0 31 4 0 7 Lawrence 1 2 0 0 7 2 0 2 Skibbe 6 14 3 6 25 5 0 17 Team 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 Totals 19 64 7 12 200 44 14 51
Hawaii (26-7)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Gabrielova 4 8 3 6 37 5 3 12 Roper 3 10 2 2 22 9 0 8 Brossman 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 Gabriel 0 1 0 0 3 3 0 0 Lee 4 11 3 4 33 3 2 12 Puida 2 9 0 0 33 9 0 5 Atuaia 1 6 2 2 36 5 4 5 Allen 3 4 0 0 11 3 2 8 Greeny 0 4 2 2 19 3 0 2 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 23 47 29 36 225 35 14 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-OSU 26, Hawaii 26.
3-point goals--OSU 6-12(Skibbe 2-2, Faulk 2-4, Hutchens 1-1, Hawkins 1-3), Hawaii 4-12 (Puida 1-1, Gabrielova 1-3, Atuaia 1-3, Lee 1-4). Fouled out--None. Technical fouls--none. Steals--OSU 1 (Lawrence), Hawaii 1 (Atuaia). Blocked shots--OSU 2 (Faulk, Osborn), Hawaii 10 (Roper 6, Puida 4). Turnovers--OSU 9 (Hutchens 2, Lawrence 2, Osborn 1, Bates 1, Faulk 1, Hawkins 1, Skibbe 1), Hawaii 9 (Allen 3, Atuaia 2, Puida 2, Roper 1, Gabrielova 1).
Officials--Garrett, Gulbeyan, Yamasaki. A--4,279.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii