DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Michelle Gabriel drove between Loyola Marymount's Raelen Self and Mary Turner for a score.
Hawaii and ninth-ranked Texas Tech play for the championship of the Ala Moana Hotels Paradise Classic today at 3 p.m. in the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawaii, Texas Tech win
Classic openers
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comNeither team was happy with the effort in yesterday's semifinal-round games, but performed well enough to post victories.
The Rainbow Wahine shook off finals fatigue to edge the Loyola Marymount Lions 56-51, and Texas Tech found the necessary ingredients for success in the second half to beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 66-53.
The first eight minutes of the UH game became a study in miscues and missed opportunities, especially for the Rainbow Wahine. They were guilty of six turnovers, made just one field goal in six attempts and trailed 4-3 with 11:42 left. They did get the go-ahead run, oops, basket, 40 seconds later on a short jumper by Penny Jones.
Although Hawaii never trailed the remainder of the game, the Wahine did not have a moment to enjoy a comfort zone. They also didn't have Christen Roper for the last 18 minutes of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half as the senior center was in early foul trouble both halves.
"We knew Loyola Marymount wasn't going to go away. They only scored 20 points in the first half against UC Santa Barbara and came back to score 43 in the second half," UH coach Vince Goo said.
The Wahine held the Lions (6-2) to 15 points at intermission, UH's best 20 minutes on defense this season.
Offensively, it was a different story. Despite Roper's absence, the Wahine (6-2) did score 18 of their 26 first-half points in the paint but struggled.
"I think we were like watching instead of attacking their defense. Their defense was spread more than we thought it would be from watching films," said UH point guard Michelle Gabriel. "They sort of attacked us and we didn't attack back."
LMU cut the lead to one point twice in the second half, first with 4:30 left on two free throws by Adrianne Slaughter, who led all scorers with 21 points. Jade Abele and Roper each made one of two from the charity stripe, but Slaughter banked in a shot with 3:29 to bring the Lions within one at 44-43.
Abele, who led UH with a career-high 19 points, sank the only 3-pointer by a Rainbow Wahine. Roper hit two free throws, but Slaughter answered with a short, twisting jumper. Gabriel followed with the biggest steal of her four-year career with 47 ticks on the clock, intercepting a pass near midcourt and going in for the layup for a six-point UH lead.
No. 9 Texas Tech 66, Tennessee-Chattanooga 53: The Lady Raiders (6-1) clamped down defensively on the Lady Mocs (6-2) in the second half to move into today's championship game.
"We hope defense is our strength and we have enough depth that we can bring a lot of different looks at you defensively. We've talked a lot about playing good defense on the road because that's the one thing you can control every trip," said Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp.
Hawaii 56, Loyola Marymount 51
LIONS (6-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Self 0 2 0 0 34 5 2 0 Auld 4 8 3 4 13 2 2 13 Brown 0 2 0 0 9 1 0 0 Matthews 0 2 0 0 6 1 0 0 Smith 0 1 0 0 7 1 0 0 Ziemann, B 1 7 0 0 31 3 4 2 Slaughter 9 13 3 3 24 9 1 21 Ziemann, R 1 3 0 0 7 1 0 2 Woods 1 5 0 0 7 1 1 2 Turner 3 9 0 0 27 1 2 7 Wosman 0 2 0 0 6 1 0 0 Henry 1 10 2 2 27 8 1 4 Grooms 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 20 65 8 9 200 37 13 51 RAINBOW WAHINE (6-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Abele 6 12 6 7 30 3 1 19 Nishimoto 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Macfarlane 0 1 0 0 5 1 2 0 Roper 3 6 3 4 14 6 0 9 Jones 2 2 0 0 20 9 1 4 Gabriel 2 4 5 6 35 2 2 9 Sanders 0 3 0 0 16 1 3 0 Atuaia 1 7 4 5 34 5 3 6 Allen 4 12 1 2 31 7 0 9 Spooner 0 1 0 0 15 3 0 0 Totals 18 48 19 24 200 39 12 56 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 26, Loyola Marymount 15.
3-point goals--Loyola Marymount 3-15(Auld 2-3, Turner 1-4), Hawaii1-8 (Abele 1-3). Personal fouls--Loyola Marymount 21, Hawaii 10. Steals--Loyola Marymount 7 (B. Ziemann 2, Slaughter 2, Self, Auld, Henry), Hawaii 3 (Gabriel 3). Blocked shots--Loyola Marymount 3 (Henry 3), Hawaii 2 (Roper, Abele). Turnovers--Loyola Marymount 8 (Turner 2, Self, Auld, Brown, B. Ziemann, Slaughter, R. Ziemann), Hawaii 15 (Allen 4, Abele 3, Gabriel 2, Macfarlane, Roper, Spooner).
Tickets issued--1,453. Attendance--427.
UH Athletics
