Thursday, February 21, 2002
The numbers are quite clear for Hawaii. If the Rainbow Wahine basketball team wins its final four regular-season games, it should finish in second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings. 4 more wins should leave
Hawaii in second placeBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comHawaii (10-4 WAC) has two road games left, at Fresno State (4-10) tonight and at Nevada (6-9) on Sunday afternoon. The final two home games are against Texas-El Paso (1-14) and Boise State (4-11). All four opponents are in the bottom half of the conference standings.
The above scenario makes one assumption, that Louisiana Tech (14-0) will defeat Rice (11-4) tonight, handing the Owls their fifth conference loss.
Tulsa (10-5), which plays Rice on Saturday, lurks in the shadows of second place and could sneak in if UH stumbles.
On this road trip, Hawaii's two opponents really have the UH coaches wondering. Both the Bulldogs and the Wolf Pack have talented players, but just haven't been able to put that talent together as a team this season.
"I think both teams will be of the mindset that they can be spoilers now. We expect them to come out relaxed, and this is dangerous because they have nothing to lose," said Hawaii coach Vince Goo.
Hawaii will have sophomore Christa Brossman back for the trip. In Sunday's game, she suffered a cut on her chin that required stitches.
"Christa was released (by the team physician) to get back in Sunday's game, so that hurt us as we were short two players at the wing position with April Atuaia also out," said Goo.
Atuaia will make the trip and has been cleared to play, but is not expected to see much action. She isn't in the best of game shape and it takes time for her left knee to get loose after suffering an ACL injury in the Fresno State game here Jan. 26.
Hawaii has never had an easy time winning in FSU's North Gym, a facility that has walls behind each basket and resembles UH's Gym II with seats. The last two trips to North Gym resulted in four- and five-point wins for UH, thanks to last-minute rallies.
"We arrive at midnight Wednesday and wanted to practice during the day, but the Fresno women -- not men and women, just the women -- have the gym reserved from 2 to 7 p.m.," said Goo. "It must be something to have a five-hour practice. We go through this every year."
The game against Nevada is delayed until Sunday because the state high school tournament is being played at Lawlor Events Center.
The two-day break doesn't bother Goo, although he prefers to play Saturday so he can get the team back to Hawaii on Sunday to be ready for Monday classes.
The Rainbow Wahine were down when they reported to practice Tuesday following the one-point loss to Rice last Sunday, but Goo said, "There was some recovery necessary. It's done, and we always come back from losses."
Notes: UH freshman Chelsea Wagner is averaging 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game since becoming a starter when Atuaia was injured. ... Senior Karena Greeny also has picked up the pace in the last nine games, averaging 12.7 points. ... Hawaii leads the series with Fresno State 21-6 and with Nevada 14-2. ... The Bulldogs have lost six of their last seven games. ... Nevada's only losses at home were to Louisiana Tech and Tulsa. ... Both games will be broadcast live on KCCN 1420-AM, starting at 5 p.m. and noon.
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