TULSA, Okla. >> Hawaii coach Vince Goo, after one of those tough road defeats last month, said, "It sure would be nice to play some of these teams on a neutral court at the WAC tournament in Tulsa." Wahine peaking
at the right timeBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comIn a season full of frustrating moments, the Rainbow Wahine got their act together to win the final two regular-season road games to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place and avoid a first-round tournament game. The Western Athletic Conference tie-breaking procedures made Hawaii the fifth seed in the tournament.
The reward for this has the Wahine playing No. 4 seed Tulsa in a lower-bracket, quarterfinal-round game tomorrow at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Should UH win that game, the semifinal-round opponent most likely would be No. 1 seed and WAC champion Louisiana Tech, a perfect 18-0 during the conference season.
"We will be the underdog in every game we play here. There will be no pressure on us," said Goo.
"Tulsa is playing at home in front of their fans. That's their advantage. The disadvantage is they will have the pressure of having to play well in front of their fans. The pressure is on them tomorrow night."
Although the Wahine (15-12) lead the all-time series 9-2, they traded last-second home victories with the Golden Hurricane during the regular season. Tulsa won by three points here, the Wahine by two at the Stan Sheriff Center. In both games, the Golden Hurricane led at the half. In the game here, the Wahine clamped down on the Tulsa offense in the second half to the tune of 15 points, but fell short of overcoming the halftime deficit. At home, UH managed to erase the halftime deficit.
"Tulsa plays good defense and we try to do the same thing," said Goo. "I think every time we play Tulsa it is going to be a tough ballgame. We try to shut each other's strengths down and we've both done that. In the two regular-season games, we came out in the second half and played more efficiently on the offensive end and took care of our assignments better at the defensive end."
Tulsa coach Kathy McConnell-Miller thinks the best matchup for the Golden Hurricane is at center.
"Christen Roper and Alyssa Shriver are very similar in style, demeanor and what they do on the court," McConnell-Miller said. "It's a great matchup. What worries me is when Shriver is going up against someone smaller, quicker and more athletic so I'm pretty happy with this matchup."
Shriver, at 6-foot-4, averages 9.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots per game. The 6-5 Roper averages 10.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game.
"I don't think we match up particularity well at the other positions because Hawaii is so big and strong and I don't consider us to be big and strong," said McConnell-Miller.
The Golden Hurricane prefer a more up-tempo game, like to get their points from transition play, and know they will have to take advantage of their opportunities.
"I think Vince does a great job preparing his kids against personnel and tendencies," said McConnell-Miller. "You aren't going to score a bunch of points in a hurry against Hawaii, so basically we have to beat them from the perimeter. We have to be able to execute against their zone defense."
Goo has used an up-tempo approach a couple of times late in the season, but prefers the half-court game that requires patience and good decision making and passing while reading an opponent's defense.
"We will have to shoot well. That will be a key for both of us," said Goo.
The end result could easily come down to the coaching chess game and which team makes the necessary adjustments and counter adjustments.
Today, there are two first-round games. No. 7 seed Southern Methodist plays No. 10 seed Nevada, with the winner moving on to play No. 2 seed Rice in the upper bracket of the quarterfinal round tomorrow. No. 8 seed Boise State meets No. 9 seed Texas-El Paso (10-18), with the winner advancing to play No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech (26-2) in the lower bracket.
The other quarterfinal-round pairing has No. 3 seed Fresno State playing No. 6 seed San Jose State.
The Lady Techsters are in the NCAA Tournament no matter how they do here. They have been selected to host the first and second rounds of an NCAA Regional.
For any other conference team to make the NCAA Tournament, it would have to win the WAC tournament. The chances of the league receiving an NCAA at-large berth are very slim should the heavily favored Lady Techsters win the title Saturday.
UH Athletics
