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UH ready for third TULSA, Okla. >> It is the matchup that Hawaii coach Vince Goo wanted for his Rainbow Wahine. But Goo may have gotten more than his usual two scoops of Rice. Third-seeded Hawaii plays second-seeded Rice tomorrow at 8 a.m. Hawaii time in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
scoop of Rice
The Rainbow Wahine want to avoid
losing to the Owls 3 times in 1 seasonBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comAfter Hawaii squeaked out a 45-41 win against Nevada, Goo joked that the Wahine were trying to give their next opponent a false sense of security.
"We tried to make them overconfident knowing that the winner is going to play us and the way we performed today," Goo said. "That was the ploy all the way."
Not that the Owls needed a confidence boost after an 80-57 blowout of Southern Methodist.
Rice coach Cristy McKinney says the Owls' first half of play was close to the best half of basketball she's seen from her team all year.
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Owls leading scorer Kara Liggett buried three 3-pointers in the first five minutes to shatter the confidence of the Mustangs. The Owls shot 48.4 percent from the field, including 77.8 percent from 3-point land.In contrast, Goo said that the Wahine gave an excellent defensive performance yesterday, but their offensive showing was poor.
An early morning shoot-around didn't have positive effects for Hawaii or Nevada. Both teams shot poorly from the field, with the Wahine going 16-for-52 and Nevada 18-for-54.
Perimeter shooting helped the Wahine out since they weren't able to go into their posts as much. And when they did, execution became a factor.
Senior Janka Gabrielova says the Wahine need all-around improvement for tomorrow.
"Boxing out and cutting our turnovers and finishing the layups. Play harder, catch the ball, everything," Gabrielova said.
Expect another defensive battle tomorrow, the Owls do.
"At their place, a big key was defense," Liggett said. "They held us and we held them. It's usually a low-scoring game. Every position is really important so if we can hit the open shots that we get and if we can just limit their good looks at the bucket, that's what the key is."
Added Rice coach Cristy McKinney: "We definitely think we can beat them three times in a year, but it's definitely not going to be easy. And are they going to come after us? Yeah, big time. We took one out of there. They don't lose very many there. They're really going to be wanting revenge."
The Wahine lost both regular-season games, the second by a point in Honolulu. Hawaii has struggled with its shooting in the previous meetings.
It is the second time Hawaii and Rice will meet in a semifinal. The Owls narrowly won in 2000 (76-73) when they were the No. 3 seed and Hawaii was the No. 2 seed.
But the Wahine were coming off a blowout of Texas-El Paso so perhaps Rice, with the easier game, may be overconfident tomorrow.
Either way, Goo hopes the third serving of Rice goes to the Wahine.
Notes: Tomorrow's semifinal will be broadcast live on KCCN-1420 AM. .. .Rice leads the series 6-4 and has won the last three going back to 2001.
Who: Hawaii (22-6) vs. Rice (21-7) WAC semifinal
When: 8 a.m. tomorrow, Hawaii time
TV: KFVE (Channel 5), live
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
UH Athletics