Friday, December 28, 2001
Hawaii begins its seventh Western Athletic Conference season with the first-ever trip to the state of Idaho to play league newcomer Boise State today. Wahine open WAC on road
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Wahine have banked on the same starting five through a 7-2 preseason. Janka Gabrielova, April Atuaia, Karena Greeny, Natasja Allen and Christen Roper were the projected starters entering the season and nothing has changed,
"From the beginning of fall practice to now, they have exceeded our expectations," said UH coach Vince Goo. "We've got two juniors (Allen and Roper) who have come a long way. We expected Christen to step in, but Natasja wasn't even a starter last year."
Allen averages more minutes per game (34) than any other Wahine and leads the team in scoring with a 15.4 average. Roper is next at 12.9 ppg and is among the WAC leaders with 8.6 rebounds per game.
"We're OK at the point (Gabrielova), shooting guard (Atuaia) and the wing (Greeny). The biggest plus is we have Christa Brossman, Michelle Gabriel and Chelsea Wagner coming off the bench and doing well at those positions," Goo said.
In past seasons those three reserves would probably see five or six minutes of playing time, but all three are averaging more than 10 minutes, led by Brossman with 15 minutes a game.
With forward Jade Abele sidelined with a stress fracture of her right foot, the addition of Kim Willoughby couldn't have come at a better time. There is no question she will help the Wahine on the front line.
"For a freshman to practice one week, then play seven minutes in her first game and 18 in the next game shows we have a lot of confidence in her," said Goo. "Right now Kim is doing a lot of thinking on the court, but as she learns the offense and defense she will play instinctively."
Goo warns that the Broncos, picked to finished eighth in the coaches preseason poll, are better than their 4-6 record indicates. The only common opponent is Portland State, defeated by UH 68-55, and beaten by Boise State 81-75 in a road game.
Tomorrow, Hawaii travels to El Paso for a Sunday game against the UTEP Miners (2-6).
UTEP standouts the past two seasons, Amy Pak and Heidi Walker, transferred to other schools and top guard Christa Mata graduated, so first-year coach Keitha Green has virtually a new team that is still learning her system.
This is UH's first game with Boise State and the Wahine lead the UTEP series, 8-0.
Notes: KCCN-1420 AM will broadcast both games starting at 3:45 p.m. today and 10:45 a.m. Sunday. ... Jodi Nakashima, a freshman guard from Roosevelt High School, has played in all 10 games for the Broncos. ... UH is 26-11 in regular-season road games since joining the WAC.
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