Hawaii plays its final two regular-season women's basketball games at home this week with another 20-win season on the horizon. UH on verge of 20 wins
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comIf the Rainbow Wahine (19-6, 12-4) defeat Texas-El Paso tomorrow and Boise State Saturday, they finish in second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings. If they accomplish that, then the result of the Tulsa at Rice game Saturday determines if UH shares second place with Rice (if the Owls win) or have it to themselves (if the Golden Hurricane win).
"The focus this week is to win two games and see what happens," said UH coach Vince Goo.
"We played our best game ever at Fresno and played well enough to win at Nevada. We're not putting anything new into the offense or defense. We're just trying to polish up on some weaknesses and a lot of that is mental focus."
Playing well this week would boost the players' confidence heading into the WAC Tournament next week at Tulsa. The Wahine camp wants to play three games in four days and challenge for the title.
At this point in the season, the players' legs get weary faster, and several players returned from the road trip with the sniffles. To keep everyone as healthy as possible for the postseason, practice sessions have been cut short for some time now.
Goo has talked briefly with the players about the NCAA Tournament. The Rainbow Wahine have an RPI rating of 40 in the latest ranking issued by Collegiate Basketball News, which is unofficial, but the coaches consider the CBN rankings to be the closest to the NCAA's.
Hawaii's RPI rating at the end of the regular season a year ago was about 56 or 58, according to Goo. Playing Louisiana Tech twice and a strong nonconference schedule has helped UH maintain a higher rating this year.
"We need to win the two games this week and go to the conference tournament and be in the championship game with whoever," said Goo. "If we get to the championship, we will have beaten a decent team in the semifinals. That will keep our RPI decent."
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m. GAMEDAY
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV (Ch. 5)
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: kccn1420am.com
Tickets: All seats general admission. $7 adults, $6 seniors, $4 for children (age 4-17) and UH students.
Parking: $3
The Lady Miners (3-22, 1-15) do not have the height to match Hawaii or anyone else in the WAC, almost resembling a five-guard offense.
Kimya Murray, a 5-foot-6 junior guard is the leading scorer, averaging 17.0 points a game. Dragana Zoric, a 5-10 junior forward, is next at 13.5.
In the earlier meeting this year, UH changed its defense in the second half to apply more pressure. This forced the Lady Miners into 11 turnovers in the second half and led to more transition baskets for Hawaii.
The Rainbow Wahine probably will be without sophomore guard April Atuaia for the rest of the season. The left hamstring injury she suffered in practice last Saturday was really bad, according to Goo.
"She didn't sleep for two nights, and I'm not sure we'll have her go through that again," said Goo. "Most likely, she is done for the year."
That makes Christa Brossman's breakout game off the bench last week at Fresno State even more important. Brossman has always played hard and contributed on defense, but she'll tell you her offense could improve. At Fresno, she led the Wahine with 14 points.
"Anyone who can step forward now just makes it that much better. Christa was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 6-for-8 overall from the field," said Goo.
WAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L LaTech 15 1 .938 -- 20 4 Rice 13 4 .765 2 1/2 19 7 Hawaii 12 4 .750 3 19 6 Tulsa 11 6 .647 4 1/2 16 11 San Jose St. 10 6 .625 5 15 10 Nevada 6 10 .375 9 9 16 Boise St. 5 11 .312 10 9 17 Fresno St. 4 12 .250 11 9 17 SMU 4 12 .250 11 9 17 UTEP 1 15 .062 14 3 22 Tomorrow
UTEP at Hawaii, 7 p.m. (HST)
Fresno State at Louisiana Tech
Nevada at SMU
Boise State at San Jose State
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
HAWAII (19-6 OVERALL, 12-4 WAC) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Janka Gabrielova (Sr.) 5-6 10.6 3.4 4.4 G Chelsea Wagner (Fr.) 5-10 8.0 2.8 1.1 F Natasja Allen (Jr.) 6-2 11.2 5.7 1.1 F Karena Greeny (Sr.) 5-11 9.3 6.0 1.9 C Christen Roper (Jr.) 6-5 10.1 7.8 0.6 UTEP (3-22, 1-15) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Kimya Murray (Jr.) 5-6 17.0 3.8 2.0 G Tiffany Touton (So.) 5-8 2.8 2.0 2.5 F Dragana Zoric (Jr.) 5-10 13.5 8.3 2.4 F Danielle Brown (Sr.) 5-9 6.8 3.1 2.0 C Romie DeAnda (Jr.) 6-1 8.1 5.2 1.0 Notes: The Rainbow Wahine have won all nine games they have played with the Lady Miners. ... Earlier this year, UH defeated host UTEP, 89-66, after leading by 10 points at the half. ... The Wahine connected on 15-of-29 3-pointers in that game. ... The Lady Miners has not won since Jan. 3 when they beat SMU, 76-73. ... The Rainbow Wahine allow 57.8 points per game, 17th best in the nation. ... Christen Roper has blocked 185 shots in 62 games during her career. ... It is Food Bank Night tomorrow. Fans who bring in two canned goods get in free.
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