Thursday, November 22, 2001
The 23rd annual Panda Travel Rainbow Wahine Classic, the only eight-team women's basketball tournament in the nation, begins a three-day run tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center. Wahine host
The teams
Classic hoops fieldBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com"It's tops." Hawaii head coach Vince Goo said. "Nowhere else can a team have three competitions like they get in this tournament."
Kay Yow, who's North Carolina State Wolfpack won last year's event, spoke highly of this prestigious tournament, how nationally ranked teams line up to spend Thanksgiving in Hawaii and the number of great players who have participated here.
Over the years, the Wahine have fared well here, winning four titles and advancing to the championship game six other times.
Two of the all-time, heart-stopping title showdowns involved national powers. Tennessee edged Louisiana Tech, 62-61 in overtime in 1988, and Stanford topped the Lady Vols, 74-73 in overtime in 1992.
The Cardinal, rankled No. 7 in the Associated Press poll and No. 8 in the coaches poll, return this year hoping to match Hawaii with their fourth tournament crown.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center. Rainbow Wahine Classic
TV: Hawaii-Wyoming, live, KFVE, Channel 5.
Radio: Hawaii-Wyoming, live, KCCN, 1420-AM.
Tickets: All general admission. $8 adults, $7 seniors, $5 for children (age 4-17) and UH students.
Parking: $3.
Schedule -- Tomorrow: Penn State vs. Florida Atlantic, 12:30 p.m., Oklahoma State vs. Weber State, 2:40 p.m.; Stanford vs. Minnesota, 4:50 p.m., Hawaii vs. Wyoming, 7 p.m. Saturday: Consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. and 11:10 a.m. Championship semifinals, 1:20 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Note: Hawaii will play the 1:20 p.m. game. Sunday: Seventh place, 11:30 a.m.; Fifth place, 1:40 p.m.; Third place, 3:50 p.m.; Championship, 6 p.m.
Stanford, UH's first-round opponent Wyoming and Florida Atlantic are in one bracket. Penn State, 21st and 23rd in the two polls, heads up the other bracket that includes Minnesota, Oklahoma State and Weber State.
For the Wahine, this is an opportunity to build on last weekend's victories, to continue to improve the offense and defense, and to seek more balanced contributions, especially on offense. The inside game worked well last week with Christen Roper and Natasja Allen providing scoring punch, but the perimeter game also must be productive.
It would be beneficial for the Wahine to square off against a ranked team this weekend with a game against No. 16 Baylor on the horizon and two Western Athletic Conference games against No. 5 Louisiana Tech down the road.
The eight teams combined to go 12-1 last weekend. Here's a look at the other teams in the Classic field:
Florida Atlantic (0-0)
The Owls lost their top three scorers from a 9-19 season, but return eight players. Third-year coach Chancellor Dugan feels she now has the players to do what she likes best and that's apply full-court pressure. Opening the season against a veteran Stanford team is a huge test.
Minnesota (2-0)
The Golden Gophers hope to return to prominence in the Big Ten under new coach Brenda Oldfield who has just two seniors on her squad. Minnesota beat Butler and Santa Clara in their own season-opening tournament and are led by Lindsay Whalen who averaged 19 points per game as a freshman last year.
Penn State (1-1)
The Lady Lions lost their opener, 74-58, when they couldn't stop Villanova's 3-point shooting, but rebounded Tuesday night to edge host UC Santa Barbara, 76-73.National freshman of the year two seasons ago, 6-foot guard Kelly Mazzante, followed up with an 18.2 points per game output last year. Senior post Rashana Barnes provides leadership and has strong rebounding and blocking abilities.
Oklahoma State (2-0)
Who can forget the crowd-pleasing UH-OSU National Women's Invitation Tournament game last March, a 52-51 UH win when two shots by the Cowgirls in the last 12 seconds were off the mark. Returning are Trisha Skibbe and Kara Faulk who had 17 and 13 points in that game, respectively. Defense is the name of the game for coach Dick Halterman.
Stanford (2-0)
Picked to win the Pac-10 Conference title, the Cardinal won their own invitational last week, defeating Indiana and UC Santa Barbara, and will be trying for a 3-0 start for the first time in five years. Sophomore forward Nicole Powell, a Naismith College Women's Basketball Player of the Year candidate, had a triple-double in the win over Indiana. Senior forward Lindsey Yamasaki was tournament MVP after scoring 41 points.
Weber State (2-0)
The Wildcats, picked to finish third in the Big Sky Conference, have defeated UC Riverside and new WAC member Boise State. Coach Carla Taylor has starters Stephanie Stanger (19.0 points per game), Karsen Muller (9.5 ppg), Angela Sampson (4.0 ppg) and Crystal Howe (13.3 ppg) back. Newcomer Julie Gjertsen is averaging 16.5 points per game.
Wyoming (1-0)
The Cowgirls, with five returning starters, clobbered visiting Sacramento State, 101-47, in their opener last Sunday. Forwards Darci Arsene and Carrie Bacon scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, to lead four players in double figures. The Cowgirls forced 47 turnovers and stole the ball 21 times against the overmatched Hornets.Note: Youngsters, eighth grade and under, can sign up for the Rainbow Wahine Junior Booster Club one hour prior to each Wahine game this weekend. Members get free admission to all home games this season.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
