ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Trisha Nishimoto, Christen Roper, Amy Sanders and Callie Spooner celebrated as the team closed out a 62-48 victory over Tulsa yesterday.
Wahine win, TULSA, Okla. >> The Hawaii women's basketball team won it's third consecutive road game last night, but faces an enormous challenge tomorrow if the streak is to continue.
get Tech next
Hawaii scores a mild upset over
Roper led tough defense
host Tulsa, but the stiffest test
comes tomorrow -- No. 6
Louisiana TechBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
The fifth-seeded Rainbow Wahine shut down Tulsa's post game and held All-America candidate Allison Curtin in check to defeat the Golden Hurricane 62-48 in a quarterfinal game at the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament.
YESTERDAY WAC Women's
At Tulsa, Okla.
Tournament
Quarterfinals
>> Southern Methodist 58, Rice 55
>> Fresno State 63, San Jose State 57
>> Louisiana Tech 80, Boise State 55
>> Hawaii 62, Tulsa 48TOMORROW
All times HST
Semifinals
>> 8 a.m.: SMU (7) vs. Fresno State (3)
>> 10:30 a.m.: LaTech (1) vs. Hawaii (5)
Hawaii now faces the task of defeating top-seeded Louisiana Tech in a semifinal tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Hawaii time if the Wahine are to reach their third consecutive title game Saturday.
The Lady Techsters possess tremendous quickness, and all their perimeter players have a very quick first step that allows them to blow by opponents on drives to the hoop. This alone could make it difficult for UH to control the tempo of the game, something Hawaii coach Vince Goo will attempt to accomplish.
The Wahine (16-12) will have to establish control of the paint and limit Tech's offensive rebounds, something Boise State was not able to do last night. Hawaii will have to hit perimeter shots to open up the middle like it did against Tulsa (14-16).
Hawaii outscored No. 4 seed Tulsa in the opening half for the first time this season and Goo turned to a little humor to explain why.
"Tulsa beat us in the first half both times during the regular season and we outscored them by 10 points in the second half. Tonight we told the girls to play the second half first. When that went so well, we told them at halftime to play another second half," said Goo.
Tulsa coach Kathy McConnell-Miller had a different take on the game.
"I give all the credit to Hawaii for coming out, attacking and performing. You got the feeling they weren't going to leave the building without a win," said McConnell-Miller. "We knew they would sit in a zone (defense) and we worked on it for days, but they came out, established themselves and we didn't respond."
The first half had a strange twist in that Tulsa's first 13 points were scored by Megan Moody, a freshman from Australia who entered the game averaging 2.0 points per game. When she connected on her third trey from the right corner, that cut the UH lead to 18-13.
Then Curtin took over and hit four consecutive pull-up jump shots in the 10-foot range to account for the next eight Tulsa points. Her last one made the score 27-21 Hawaii.
Kim Willoughby completed a three-point play with 55 seconds left in the half for a 30-21 UH advantage. The only other Tulsa scorer was center Alyssa Shriver.
However, Shriver managed just five points and Moody scored just two in the second half. Curtin, who finished with 19 points, was harassed by Michelle Gabriel -- before she left the game with a sprained right ankle with 17:12 to go -- and her replacements, Trisha Nishimoto and Milia Macfarlane.
"I think the thing Trisha was going to have to do was stop Curtin from penetrating. Curtin's favorite spot is just to the right of the foul line and Trisha was right there to take it away. When she got tired, missed a layup, Milia came in and gave her a break," said Goo.
Except for a few seconds five minutes into the game, when the scored was tied at 5, the Wahine held a six- to eight-point lead the entire half.
Atuaia scored UH's first five points and finished the half with 10. Abele contributed five.
Hawaii came out strong in the second half, putting together an 18-8 run for a 48-31 lead at the 11:22 media break. Willoughby scored seven of those points, all from very close range.
"Kim, Rope (Christen Roper) and Tasha (Natasja Allen) did well in posting up when we got their defense spread out, and our perimeter people did a good job of getting them the ball," said Goo.
"The game was closer than the score. I know Kathy is proud of how her players competed. We are proud of the way our kids competed."
Allen, who led UH with 16 points, said, "It felt like a really smooth game. We ran our patterns well, got open shots and when April hit a bunch early we never looked back."
No. 6 Louisiana Tech 80, Boise State 55: The top-seeded Lady Techsters (27-2) reached the 80-point plateau for the sixth consecutive game in breezing past No. 8 seed BSU (10-19). It took seven minutes, 31 seconds for the Broncos to score their first field goal to make the score 18-2.
Tech also ripped off a 20-7 spurt to start the second half.
"When you play a team for the third time you worry about a letdown, but we didn't let down," said Louisiana Tech coach Kurt Budke. "We were efficient to start each half. This was a good way to start the tournament."
Trina Frierson, who scored a game-high 19 points, said, "We want to start fast and make a statement. We were pumped, ready to run the floor, rebound and when we came out in the second half it was like the score was 0-0."
Cheryl Ford, who missed a few minutes in the first half while her left ankle was being retaped after tweaking it rebounding, had 18 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two assists for the Lady Techsters.
Mandy Welch was high scorer for the Broncos with 14 points. Roosevelt High School product Jodi Nakashima missed her only field goal attempt in six minutes of action.
Southern Methodist 58, Rice 55: In the first upset of the women's bracket, the seventh-seeded Lady Mustangs (16-14) knocked off the No. 2 seeded Lady Owls (15-13) with a 6-2 run in the final two minutes.
Andrea Cossey's short jumper in the paint put SMU on top 54-53. Shonte Roberts and Shanta Ramdhanny then sank two free throws apiece in the last 28 seconds to offset a Lindsay Maynard layup with 13 seconds to go.
Kaci Alexander led SMU with 14 points. Michelle Woods was the only Rice player in double figures with 15 points.
Fresno State 63, San Jose State 57: The third-seeded Bulldogs (18-11) avoided an upset by the No. 6 Spartans (13-15), who erased a 14-point FSU lead to tie the score at 56 with 2:06 left.
SJSU's Cricket Williams scored 12 of her 21 points to spark the 20-6 spurt that produced the tie. Udeze Omelogo, who led all scorers with 29 points, broke the tie with a free throw with 1:44 to go. Lindsay Logan then hit a jumper at 56 seconds and converted two free throws with 34 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Aiea High School graduate Aritta Lane played 17 minutes for FSU, was 1 for 5 from the field and made 1 of 2 free throws for three points. She also had six rebounds, a block, a steal and two assists.
Rainbow Wahine (16-12, 9-9 wac) Hawaii 62, Tulsa 48
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Abele 4 7 3 4 30 4 2 12 Allen 7 11 2 4 29 5 0 16 Roper 1 6 0 0 27 12 0 2 Gabriel 2 5 0 0 21 1 0 6 Atuaia 4 10 0 0 35 2 2 10 Willoughby 5 10 4 5 23 11 2 14 Nishimoto 0 4 0 0 15 3 3 0 Macfarlane 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 Sanders 1 3 0 0 15 2 2 2 Totals 24 56 9 16 200 40 11 62 Golden Hurricane (14-16, 9-9 wac)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Carney 0 5 0 0 27 1 1 0 Chiconas 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 Shriver 2 11 1 2 36 11 0 5 Brewer 0 5 4 4 32 4 2 4 Curtin 8 16 1 2 32 8 5 19 Pongonis 2 3 0 0 8 0 1 5 Jaskowiak 0 3 0 0 12 2 0 0 Elliott 0 2 0 0 12 1 1 0 Moody 6 14 0 0 31 4 0 15 Wagoner 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 18 59 6 8 200 36 10 48 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 30, Tulsa 23.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 5-13 (Gabriel 2-4, Atuaia 2-4, Abele 1-3, Nishimoto 0-2); Tulsa 6-23 (Moody 3-10, Curtin 2-5, Pongonis 1-2, Carney 0-3, Brewer 0-3).
Personal fouls -- Hawaii 10, Tulsa 16.
Technical fouls -- None.
Steals -- Hawaii 8 (Atuaia 3, Gabriel 2, Abele, Nishimoto, Macfarlane); Tulsa 3 (Pongonis 2, Brewer).
Blocked shots -- Hawaii 7 (Roper 7); Tulsa 5 (Shriver 4, Moody 1).
Turnovers -- Hawaii 12 (Abele 3, Allen 2, Roper 2, Atuaia, Willoughby, Nishimoto, Sanders); Tulsa 15 (Curtin 3, Moody 3, Carney 2, Chiconas 2, Shriver 2, Brewer, Jaskowiak, Wagoner).
Officials -- Melissa Barlow, Anita Ortega, Eric Larson.
A -- 2,712.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Christen Roper blocked a shot by Tulsa's Kayla Elliott yesterday, one of seven blocks by Roper in the game.
TULSA, Okla. >> Tulsa may not be the most hopping tourist destination around, but Christen Roper isn't ready to leave town just yet. Roper led tough defense
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Hawaii center helped the Rainbow Wahine extend their stay in Oklahoma with a commanding defensive effort in their 62-48 win over Tulsa last night in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
"I'm thrilled to be here a few more days," Roper said after the game.
The 6-foot-5 senior broke her school record for blocked shots in a season by swatting seven Golden Hurricane attempts to raise her total to 97. She set the previous mark of 96 as a sophomore.
Last night's game marked the second time this season Roper reached a milestone against Tulsa. She broke the WAC record for blocked shots in a career against the Hurricane on Feb. 27.
"It's just an added bonus, it's really cool," Roper said of the records. "My name will be there for a while."
Roper scored just two points in the game, but made up for it by grabbing 12 rebounds (10 on the defensive end) and protecting the bucket.
She anchored UH's 2-3 zone defense and forced Tulsa's shooters to think twice about challenging her in the middle.
As a team, the UH defense held Tulsa to 31 percent shooting from the field, including an eight-for-34 performance in the second half.
"It's very discouraging for their team, having a big force like that in the middle," said senior forward Natasja Allen. "I'm just glad she's on my team."
Hawaii's inside and perimeter players combined to contain All-America candidate Allison Curtin. Guards Michelle Gabriel and Trisha Nishimoto made it difficult for Curtin to receive the ball, and the post players clogged the middle to limit the WAC's leading scorer to just one attempt in the game's first 14 minutes.
Curtin, who averaged 26 points in the two regular-season games against Hawaii this season, heated up late in the half and finished with a game-high 19 points. But by then Hawaii had opened up a controlling lead.
Roper also won her personal battle with Tulsa center Alyssa Shriver. Roper forced the 6-foot-4 Shriver away from the basket in holding her to five points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
"I'll bet if you go back and you look at how many blocks I have against her and she has against me, it'll probably be about even," Roper said. "It's a lot of fun when you get to play somebody that's similar to you. It's a personal challenge where you have to do something better."
Roper had a sizable cheering section at the Reynolds Center last night, with her parents, sister, grandparents and cousins from Kansas in the stands. She said her cousins drove back to Kansas last night and will return to Tulsa for tomorrow's semifinal against Louisiana Tech, possibly with more relatives in tow.
"My team will tell you, 'You can always count on the Ropers to be there,' " she said.
UH Athletics
