Saturday, November 24, 2001
[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
The Hawaii Wahine hung on to defeat a pesky Wyoming team 69-61 in the final game of the first day of the Panda Travel Rainbow Wahine Classic last night before 1,298 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center. Wahine survive Wyoming,
meet No. 7 Stanford todayBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Wahine (3-0) will play seventh-ranked Stanford at 1:20 p.m. today in a championship bracket semifinal matchup. Wyoming takes on Minnesota at 11:10 a.m. in the other semifinal.
The Wahine held an eight-point lead at the half, but could never shake the Cowgirls (1-1) who matched UH basket for basket in the second half.
Wyoming managed three steals and UH committed a couple of turnovers, but the Cowgirls could only cut the Wahine's advantage to seven. The Wahine built their lead to 11 after Karena Greeny's missed shot was put back in by Natasja Allen with 13:22 remaining in the second half.
After Christa Brossman scored for UH, baskets by Cherrith Wiersma, Ann McColl, and Kelly McRee's bucket and 3-pointer pulled the Cowgirls to within four points (49-45) at the 10:10 mark. Two more UH turnovers and missed free throws and the Wahine lead was down to two points with 8:39 left on Ashley Elliott's two free throws.
At a timeout with 7:34 remaining, Hawaii was just 5-for-19 from the field after shooting .484 in the first half. The Cowgirl defense met the UH players well beyond the arc and the Wahine were not adjusting to that very well at all.
Then, at 6:41 with the Wahine up 51-47, UH point guard Janka Gabrielova left the game after being whacked in the face while fighting for a rebound. She suffered a broken nose and is doubtful for today's game.
A basket by Wiersma was offset by lay-ups from Allen and Christen Roper.
But, this was a game of mini-streaks, and two free throws by Allot and Stacey's pull-up jumper from the left side had UH holding a 59-53 lead with 3:27 remaining.
Allen and McCann traded baskets after the timeout, then Michelle Gabriel and April Atuaia made one of two free-throw attempts for a 63-55 Wahine lead with 1:51 to go.
After Wyoming's Carly Stucky made the score 63-58, UH called a timeout with 1:19 left. The teams traded turnovers, the Cowgirls missed a 3-pointer, but Greeny made two free throws to put UH ahead 65-58 with 32 seconds to play. She sank two more with 21 seconds left.
A three-point play by Darci Arsene with 15 seconds left was answered by a breakaway basket by Brossman on the inbounds pass to seal the victory.
No. 7 Stanford 96, Minnesota 66: The Cardinal (3-0) looked a little sloppy for the first five minutes, then played like a national powerhouse for the final 35 minutes to advance to today's semifinal against Hawaii at 1:20 p.m.
The Golden Gophers' (2-1) last lead was 11-10 with 14:42 left in the first half. T'Nae Thiel and Lindsey Yamasaki sparked a 19-8 spurt with six points each to put the Cardinal up by 10 points, 29-19. They slowly increased the margin to 14, (46-32) at intermission.
It only took Stanford five minutes to grab a 20-point lead in the second half as the Cardinal defense and rebounding limited Minnesota to one shot. An 11-0 run gave the Cardinal a 66-40 lead with 12:52 left and it was time for Coach Tara VanDerveer to give the reserves, who continued the scoring spree, playing time.
Minnesota plays Florida Atlantic in a consolation game at 9 a.m. today.
No. 23 Penn State 89, Florida Atlantic 66: The Lady Lions (2-1) used their height advantage to trigger an effective transition game and build a 17-point halftime lead, 42-25. PSU had six players score in double figures led by 6-foot guard Kelly Mazzante with 21 points. Courtney Upshaw, a 6-4 forward, scored 14 points and had 12 rebounds.
The Lady Lions, who connected on 41 percent of their field-goal attempts, outrebounded the Owls (0-1) 68-36. Florida Atlantic, 18-for-73 (.247) from the field, was led by 5-10 forward Tamica Pierce's 20 points.
Oklahoma State 77, Weber State 64: The Cowgirls (3-1) used a 19-8 run at the start of the second half to overcome a 35-32 halftime deficit, put their lead into double digits and maintained it for much of the second half.
Trisha Skibbe scored seven points to key the OSU spurt.
"Most of our starters sat on the bench in the first half with two fouls. They were calling it close, so we backed off on the pressure a little in the second half and try to contain rather than steal the ball every time," said OSU coach Dick Halterman.
"If Weber State had made their free throws, it would have been close all the way."
The Wildcats connected on just 18-of-35 attempts from the free-throw line.
Weber State (2-1) was led by 6-4 center Crystal Howe's 13 points.
The Cowgirls play Penn State in one championship semifinal today at 3:30 p.m.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
