Friday, February 15, 2002
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UH golden Hawaii took the lead for good on Natasja Allen's layup with 6:38 to go but probably never felt comfortable until the final minute of last night's basketball game.
in second half
Wagner's 8-point run helps
the Wahine defeat the HurricaneBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Tulsa Golden Hurricane made it difficult for the Rainbow Wahine with a well-designed man defense, but once UH got a lead of at least four points, Hawaii held onto it.
The 62-53 Hawaii victory at the Stan Sheriff Center coupled with Rice's upset loss at San Jose State moved the Rainbow Wahine (17-5, 10-3) into second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Hawaii hosts Rice on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Following Allen's bucket, Chelsea Wagner scored eight consecutive points to increase Hawaii's lead to 52-43 with 4:56 to play. The freshman from Oregon made two consecutive steals and drove the court to convert the layups, then grabbed her own rebound and put it back for two points. She was fouled on the first and last play, and turned both into three-point plays.
"We went from our man to our matchup-zone defense and that created the opportunity for Chelsea to make those steals," UH coach Vince Goo said.
Wagner was somewhat surprised at the steal opportunities, but knew once she had the ball, she was going to take it to the basket.
"The matchup zone allowed me to go out and take chances because I knew I had help right behind me," said Wagner. "I'm not sure what she (Tulsa point guard Candice Brewer) was doing, but she put it right in my hands twice."
Wagner led all scorers with 21 points, with 15 coming in the second half. She also had three steals as the Rainbow Wahine tied their season-high with nine steals.
Allen scored 10 points and had a game-high nine rebounds.
The first half was a struggle for the Rainbow Wahine. The offense sputtered, shooting 31 percent from the floor. UH was charged with 11 turnovers, most on ill-advised passes or passes to teammates cutting the wrong or a different way than expected.
The Golden Hurricane stuck with an aggressive man defense most of the half and used a trapping defense to delay UH's movement into the frontcourt. Hawaii came close to shot-clock violations several times. The Rainbow Wahine also missed all eight 3-point attempts.
"We were just tentative. We weren't ball faking. We were just stagnant," said Karena Greeny, who finished with 17 points. "We were casting threes and they weren't going in. We weren't cohesive as a team."
Tulsa took a 6-0 lead while holding UH scoreless for the first 4:26. With 7:36 left in the half, the Golden Hurricane led 21-12.
Hawaii went on an 11-5 spurt to close out the half. Allen and Wagner made two baskets as UH closed the gap to one point, 24-23, with 2:29 left before intermission. However, the only shot to go in for either team was Carla Morrow's jumper with less than a minute to play.
"Tulsa got position on the floor very well and used their hands and arms to take away a lot of our passing lanes in the first half," Goo said.
"They were staying off us so we figured if we knock down some threes, they will have to come out, but we didn't. Our next option was to put pressure on defense, try for some steals and start a run. We did that in the second half."
The Rainbow Wahine put more emphasis on their inside game in the second half, but had to adjust and reverse the floor with quick passes before they got the power game going.
"It was a an ugly win, but a win is a win," Greeny said.
Note: Janka Gabrielova missed 15 shots from the field, but, in the final two minutes, was perfect on four free-throw attempts when Tulsa fouled, hoping to climb back into the game. ... Vince Goo was presented with a plaque commemorating his 300th win before the game by women's athletic director Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanahano.
Hawaii 62, Tulsa 53
Golden Hurricane (15-9, 10-4 wac) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Williams 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Upshaw 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Brewer 2 6 0 0 39 2 7 4 Bentz 1 3 0 0 16 1 2 3 Morrow 4 14 0 0 40 5 5 10 Elliot 3 5 0 0 23 5 1 6 Farr 3 7 6 6 30 3 2 12 Chiconas 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Shriver 2 7 0 0 14 3 0 4 Heidotten 6 8 2 3 34 7 0 14 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 21 50 8 9 200 29 17 53 Wahine (17-5, 10-3 Wac) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Willoughby 2 2 0 0 17 4 1 4 Abele 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Macfarlane 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Gabrielova 0 15 4 4 38 5 2 4 Roper 2 5 0 0 27 6 0 4 Brossman 0 0 2 2 9 1 1 2 Gabriel 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Allen 5 11 0 0 35 9 0 10 Greeny 6 13 4 5 38 2 2 17 Wagner 8 11 4 6 34 6 3 21 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 23 57 14 17 200 36 9 62 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 -- Tulsa 26, Hawaii 23
3-point goals -- Hawaii 2-11 (Gabrielova 0-5, Wagner 1-2, Greeny 1-4), Tulsa 3-10 (Morrow 2-5, Bentz 1-3, Brewer 0-2). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 12, Tulsa 19. Technical fouls -- none. Steals -- Hawaii 9 (Wagner 3, Allen 2,Greeny, Roper, Gabrielova 2), Tulsa 6 (Brewer 3, Heidotten 2, Farr). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 2 (Roper 2), Tulsa 5 (Morrow 2, Elliot, Farr, Heidotten). Turnovers -- Hawaii 16, Tulsa 20. Officials -- Fujimoto, Feroah, Moreno. A -- 796.
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