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TULSA, Okla. >> With an NCAA tournament bid on the line, third-seeded Hawaii took top-seeded Louisiana Tech down to the wire before falling 53-50 in the championship of the Western Athletic Conference tournament. Wahine wait after falling short
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com
The loss was tough, but it was a good-looking loss. Hawaii (23-7) held Louisiana Tech (25-4) to its lowest point total this year and had the victory within grasp. Reaching the final and playing well against the eighth-ranked Lady Techsters helps the Rainbow Wahine make a case for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Louisiana Tech earns the WAC's automatic bid as the tournament champion.
Hawaii finds out today how strong a case it made. The NCAA announces the tournament field at noon Hawaii time.
"What's up tomorrow?" Goo asked rhetorically with a wink. "We've got seven losses. Two losses to a top 50 team, Rice, which we avenged yesterday by 23 points. The other five losses are to top 10 teams. Stanford, Baylor and three times to Louisiana Tech. Not a bad record, seven losses against those people.
"I've heard people say if it's a blowout we don't go. I don't think it was a blowout, was it? I think we showed we can play some 'D' and play with some good people."
The final score doesn't give the whole story. Hawaii's seven-point lead at the half was the first ever against Louisiana Tech, which beat the Wahine twice this season, the last time by 29 points.
Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore took notice.
"You have to give credit to Hawaii," Barmore said. "They had the motivation that if they win, they're in the NCAA Tournament. We didn't have that motivation. We wanted to be champs, but we knew we were in the NCAA Tournament.
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"They kept the game close enough to get confidence and play. Before, in Ruston, we got way out ahead. We got a lot of transition baskets. We didn't get a lot of transition baskets today. On offense they kept the tempo their way. The game never got out of hand for them and they grew with confidence."A crowd of 1,943 watched at the Reynolds Center as the Rainbow Wahine battled the Lady Techsters to the final minute of the game.
Louisiana Tech needed Brooke Lassiter's free throw with 27 seconds left in the game to secure its first WAC tournament championship.
Hawaii led by as many as nine points in the second half and stayed ahead until Essence Perry started a 13-0 run with a trey that quickly brought Louisiana Tech back. The Lady Techsters took their first lead of the half, 43-41, after Amber Obaze's steal and layup with 9:24 to go.
But Hawaii came right back with a 7-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Chelsea Wagner. Christen Roper knotted the score at 50 at the 1:10 mark, but Obaze hit an 8-foot jumper with 47 seconds left. Lassiter added a free throw that put the game just out of reach.
"We won the first half. We've never won in the first half," Kim Willoughby said. "We've beaten every team in the second half. Things didn't go our way in the second half. They did pick up the pressure. They started to be more aggressive. When you compare people, we played better than them even though we lost."
It looked like it would be another easy Tech win in the opening minutes of the game as the Lady Techsters zoomed to a 12-2 lead. But Hawaii started to chip away at the lead when Roper hit successive baskets inside.
Then the Wahine bench jumpstarted the offense.
The selection committee announces the NCAA Tournament women's bracket NCAA SELECTIONS
When: Today, noon
TV: ESPN
With 11:08 remaining, Willoughby entered the game. The volleyball All-American made her presence felt immediately on the boards and in scoring. Willoughby scored her first basket when Janka Gabrielova found her open down low. She was fouled on her next possession and sank both free throws.
Gabrielova bombed a trey as the shot clock expired to trim Tech's lead to 15-13.
Willoughby then scored six points as Hawaii took a 19-17 lead. Gabrielova hit another basket from beyond the arc for a 22-17 advantage. The Rainbow Wahine led 28-21 at the intermission.
"We allowed Willoughby to come into the game and post up and score," Barmore said. "We let them do to us what we normally do to other people. And that's get the ball in the paint, score and be a power team.
"They ended up beating us on the boards all night. And we shouldn't be beat on the boards like that and we were."
Hawaii outrebounded Louisiana Tech 42-33. Willoughby led Hawaii with 12 boards, nine defensive, and 12 points. Roper was 6-for-11 from the field and scored mostly from short range. Gabrielova was 3-for-7 from 3-point land and finished with nine points and four rebounds.
Hawaii will be in the air while its postseason is decided. The Wahine plan to return to Honolulu this evening, but they hope those plans will be changed.
Note: The Rainbow Wahine had three players selected to the all-tournament team. Roper, Willoughby and Gabrielova joined Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford and tournament MVP Ayana Walker.
Louisiana Tech 53, Hawaii 50
WAHINE (23-7, 14-4 WAC) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Allen 1 5 0 0 22 3 0 2 Wagner 3 11 1 1 33 4 1 8 Roper 6 11 0 0 32 7 1 12 Gabrielova 3 11 2 2 35 4 2 11 Greeny 1 11 3 3 40 5 2 5 Willoughby 4 7 4 4 23 12 1 12 Abele 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Brossman 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 Gabriel 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 Totals 18 56 10 10 200 42 7 50 LADY TECHSTERS (25-4, 17-1 WAC) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Walker 6 10 2 4 36 9 2 14 Ford 7 14 1 2 32 13 0 15 Lassiter 1 6 1 2 33 4 0 3 Perry 1 5 0 0 31 3 2 3 Obaze 8 16 0 0 39 2 2 16 Smith 1 4 0 0 14 0 0 2 Lewis 0 2 0 0 11 1 1 0 Frierson 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 24 58 4 8 200 33 7 53 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 -- Hawaii 28, Louisiana Tech 21
3-point goals -- Hawaii 4-19 (Gabrielova 3-7, Wagner 1-6, Greeny 0-5, Willoughby 4-7), Louisiana Tech 1-9 (Perry 1-5, Lassiter 0-3, Smith 0-1). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 12, Louisiana Tech 12. Technical fouls -- Louisiana Tech 1 (bench). Steals -- Hawaii 3 (Allen, Greeny, Willoughby), Louisiana Tech 7 (Obaze, Smith, Frierson, Ford, Lassiter). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 2 (Roper 2), Louisiana Tech 8 (Walker 4, ford 2, Obaze, Lewis). Turnovers -- Hawaii 16, Louisiana Tech 8. Officials -- Barlow, Fujimoto, Hermann. T -- NA. A -- 1,943.
UH Athletics