GEORGE LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Michelle Gabriel went to the hoop against San Jose State's Jessica Kellog in the Wahine's victory.
UH uses late burst There is a danger in letting a visiting team hang close. Pretty soon that team begins thinking the home team is ripe for an upset.
to sack Spartans
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comFor the first 30 minutes last night at the Stan Sheriff Center, the Hawaii basketball team was in danger of falling into that trap before going on a decisive five-minute run late in the game to emerge with a 54-40 Western Athletic Conference victory before 868 fans.
The San Jose State Spartans matched Hawaii's defensive effort in the first half as the teams reached intermission with UH holding a football-like lead of 14-13.
"I thought we were doing OK, getting good looks at the basket, but we weren't executing well," said freshman wing Amy Sanders, who scored 11 points off the bench.
Hawaii coach Vince Goo was more direct.
"We didn't pass the ball well, didn't catch the ball well and didn't make our shots two feet from the basket. We got nothing from the perimeter and nothing from inside and we had good looks. The only people playing decent in the first half were Natasja Allen and Amy Sanders," said Goo.
Defensively, Goo was pleased with his players' efforts the full 40 minutes. With the exception of SJSU point guard Cricket Williams, who had a game-high 20 points, no SJSU (6-8, 2-3 WAC) player scored more than six points.
For the first 8:18, the teams sparred with each other, trying to figure out how to run an effective offense.
The first basket came when Jessica Kellogg hit a 3-pointer 2:40 into the game for a 3-0 SJSU lead. UH came back on consecutive baskets by Michelle Gabriel, Christen Roper, Sanders and Allen before Williams' short jumper made the score 8-5 at the second television timeout at 11:42.
Not a whole lot changed for the remainder of the half in which Hawaii produced 14 points, the lowest scoring half this season for the home team. The UH defensive work equaled the 13 points allowed in the first half against Boise State. Both teams were content to run a deliberate half-court offense, with the action slowing to a crawl at times.
UH was guilty of 11 turnovers and the Spartans 12. Neither side shot well from the floor, with Hawaii making 6 of 20 after starting the game 4-for-7. The Spartans were 6-for-21.
"At halftime we talked about not giving them a glimpse of a chance to win. We had to demolish that hope that they might win," said Allen.
"We hadn't attacked the gaps well in the first half. They over played us a lot, trying to get a hand in the passing lanes. It wasn't easy to make passes and our passes weren't crisp."
The scoring seesaw continued until 9:22 remained in the game and the Spartans took their only lead on Tatiana Taylor's layup. San Jose State didn't score again for 5:03 until Taylor hit a short jumper with 4:19 left. While the Spartans experienced an offensive drought, Hawaii rattled off 17 points.
Allen's layup drew the Rainbow Wahine (9-5, 3-2) even and Gabriel put UH ahead with a 3-pointer from the left side. Sanders and Allen each converted two free throws. After a timeout, Kim Willoughby and Allen each sank both ends of one-and-one situations. Sanders hit an 11-foot jumper and Allen worked hard in the lane for a layup and a 45-30 Hawaii lead.
Hawaii maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
"Our execution in the second half was the difference between an offense that turned the ball over 11 times and scored 14 points in the first half and an offense that turned the ball over three times and scored 40 points," said Goo.
Sanders had six rebounds, two assists and two steals to go with her season-high 11 points.
"I felt really relaxed for the first time tonight," Sanders said. "I figured my shooting percentage couldn't get any worse.
She was 4-for-6 (.667) from the field after going 13 for 57 (.228) in the first 13 games.
Notes: Only once since joining the WAC for the 1996-97 season have the Wahine had a losing record after the first five league games. That came in 1998-99 when they started 2-3. ... Christen Roper pulled down eight rebounds to increase her career total to 605 and move into fifth place ahead of Jennifer Hurt (1991-93). Roper's next target is Raylene Howard (1997-2000), who has 682 career caroms.
Key -- fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points. Hawaii 54, San Jose St. 40
RAINBOW WAHINE (9-5, 3-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Willoughby 0 4 3 4 19 5 1 3 Abele 1 6 0 2 32 3 5 2 Macfarlane 0 2 1 2 14 2 2 1 Roper 2 8 4 4 28 8 1 8 Gabriel 2 3 2 4 26 2 1 7 Sanders 4 6 3 6 24 6 2 11 Atuaia 1 8 1 1 24 4 1 3 Allen 8 10 5 7 33 6 0 19 Team 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 17 47 19 30 200 40 13 54 SPARTANS (6-8, 2-3)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Prescott 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 Williams 9 24 1 2 40 7 3 20 Wells 0 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 Hearn 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Macon 0 0 0 0 12 3 0 0 Sheehy 0 5 1 1 27 2 1 0 Taylor, Ta 2 8 0 0 19 6 1 5 Kellogg 2 10 0 0 31 3 1 5 Taylor, Te 3 10 0 0 30 8 0 6 Smith 2 5 0 0 23 2 1 4 Augustine 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 Forster 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 18 63 2 3 200 40 7 40
Halftime -- San Jose St 13, Hawaii 14
3-point goals -- Hawaii 1-7 (Gabriel 1-1, Abele 0-2, Macfarlane 0-1, Atuaia 0-3), San Jose 2-15 (Williams 1-5, Kellogg 1-6, Sheehy 0-3, Taylor 0-1). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 8, San Jose 24. Technical fouls -- none. Steals -- Hawaii 8 (Abele 3, Gabriel 2, Sanders 2, Roper), San Jose 4 (Williams 2, Sheehy 2). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 4 (Roper, Atuaia, Allen, Abele), San Jose 1 (Ford 2). Turnovers -- Hawaii 14, San Jose 17. Officials -- Ryan Wells, Anthony Fereoah, Alex Moreno. A -- 868.
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