[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
UH season ends TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- After a double-digit win in the first round of the women’s NIT, Arizona State’s Kristen Kovesdy said her team doesn’t plan to put away their high-tops any time soon.
with WNIT loss
on road
Arizona State 57, Hawaii 44
By Associated Press“We want the postseason to last,” said Kristen Kovesdy, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in the Sun Devils’ 57-44 win Thursday night over Hawaii in the opening round of the WNIT.
Arizona State coach Charli Turner-Thorne said her team’s first round loss in the Pac-10 tournament motivated her players to make the most of their appearance in the women’s NIT.
“Our young team was motivated; they really appreciated the second chance,” Turner-Thorne said after the
Jill Noe scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Sun Devils (16-13). Arizona State plays Baylor, a 58-56 winner over Northern Iowa, on Sunday in Waco, Texas.
Hawaii finished the season 16-14.
Arizona State’s see-saw season included one stretch in which they won 8 of 9 and another stretch in which they lost 6 of 7. The Sun Devils lost to ninth-place California 46-38 on March 7 in the first round of the conference tournament.
“The Pac-10 better watch out for the next few years,” said Hawaii coach Vince Goo. “They are very good fundementally. They play with youth but they have a lot of hustle.”
Noe -- one of three freshmen in the Sun Devil starting lineup -- hit two 3-pointers to open the second half as Arizona State took an eight-point lead.
“In the second half, we kept our poise better,” Turner Thorne said. “We didn’t let silly things frustrate us. We played unaffected and put on our game face.”
Arizona State shot 35 percent from the field, while Hawaii shot 31 percent from the field. Both teams had entered the game with 40.1 field goal percentages.
“You have to have a shooter’s mentality,” said Noe. “The next one’s got to go in. Or the next one. I’ve been working on my shot all week.”
The Rainbow Wahine, which lost to Louisiana Tech in the semifinals of the WAC tournament, clogged the lane throughout the game with 6-foot-5 Christen Roper, who scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked seven shots. Roper averaged 3.55 blocks a game, first in WAC, third nationally, after the regular season.
“Most teams try to attack me and get me into foul trouble,” said Roper. “We just needed to adjust the whole game.”
The Rainbow Wahine have appeared in the WNIT four years in a row, losing in the first round three times. In 2001, it lost in the semifinals.
The Sun Devils are in their fourth consecutive postseason appearance. Arizona State came into the game having lost five of its last six.
Arizona State outrebounded Hawaii 44-28.
Arizona St. 57, Hawaii 44
RAINBOW WAHINE (16-14, 9-9 WAC)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Abele 4 9 0 0 35 1 2 11 Allen 0 4 0 0 25 0 2 0 Roper 5 12 0 0 32 9 0 10 Gabriel 2 5 0 0 28 2 1 4 Atuaia 1 10 4 4 31 2 2 6 Willoughby 3 7 5 6 23 8 0 11 Nishimoto 1 1 0 2 8 1 0 2 Macfarlane 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 Sanders 0 3 0 0 9 2 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 16 51 9 12 200 29 8 44 SUN DEVILS (16-13, 7-11 PAC-10)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Buckner 2 6 0 1 27 6 1 4 Denson 3 7 0 0 23 5 1 6 Kovesdy 6 11 4 4 33 8 2 17 Loney 1 9 2 2 31 2 5 4 Noe 5 13 4 4 31 8 4 18 Young 0 2 0 0 5 0 2 0 Stagg 1 3 0 0 12 2 1 2 Crisp 0 2 0 0 11 1 1 0 Albert 1 5 2 2 13 3 0 4 Rosenthal 1 1 0 0 9 1 0 2 Thigpin 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 Totals 20 57 12 13 200 45 17 57 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 -- Arizona St. 22, Hawaii 18.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 3-7 (Abele 3-5, Atuaia 0-1, Sanders 0-1); Arizona St. 5-15 (Noe 4-7, Kovesdy 1-1, Albert 0-1, Stagg 0-1, Buckner 0-2, Loney 0-3).
Personal fouls -- Hawaii 13, Arizona St. 14.
Technical fouls -- Arizona St.: Denson.
Steals -- Hawaii 6 (Gabriel 2, Atuaia 2, Willoughby, Abele); Arizona St. 7 (Buckner 3, Noe, Young, Crisp, Rosenthal).
Blocked shots -- Hawaii 7 (Roper 7); Arizona St. 3 (Buckner, Kovesdy, Noe).
Turnovers -- Hawaii 16 (Gabriel 5, Roper 4, Abele 2, Atuaia 2, Nishimoto, Macfarlane, Sanders); Arizona St. 13 (Noe 3, Thigpin 2, Kovesdy 2, Loney 2, Buckner, Young, Crisp, Albert).
Officials -- Darla Foutz, Lisa Jones, Jeneane Pence.
A -- 721.
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LAS VEGAS >> Life on the road can be rough, but the Hawaii basketball team may be in the next best place to home. ’Bows keep show
on the road goingBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Rainbow Warriors are staying at the California Hotel in downtown Las Vegas, a haven for tourists from Hawaii complete with saimin in the snack bar and staff clad in aloha wear.
"It's just like being home," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "They walk through the lobby and everybody's telling them, 'good game.' "
The Rainbows extended their road show with an 85-68 victory over UNLV in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament here on Wednesday night. The team will stay in Las Vegas until tomorrow morning when it heads north for a second-round game at Minnesota on Monday.
The game is set for 3 p.m. Hawaii time. Two more wins will send the Rainbows to New York, site of the NIT semifinals and finals.
The team is scheduled to practice at a local gym today in preparation for its game with the Golden Gophers of the Big Ten Conference. The game will be the first meeting between Hawaii and Minnesota in basketball.
"(The UH players) know the Big Ten plays good basketball and it's an opportunity to play somewhere we haven't been before," Wallace said. "We want to get to New York and this is the next step."
Minnesota (17-12) advanced by winning on the road as well, defeating St. Louis 62-52 on Wednesday. The Gophers will host the Rainbows at Williams Arena, one of the Big Ten's venerable venues.
Hawaii (19-11) won just its fourth game away from Honolulu on Wednesday against UNLV thanks to one of its most complete team efforts this season.
Michael Kuebler busted out of a recent slump with 19 first-half points, and Carl English broke loose in the second half to finish with 20 points.
Kuebler had scored seven points in his previous two games, but was unconscious in the first half against UNLV, hitting eight of nine shots from the field, including three 3-pointers.
"The main thing is I need to keep it going," Kuebler said. "I can't come out the next game and go back to what I was doing, that's the most important thing. Everyone's pleased that I played good this game, but what's important to me is the next game."
Just about everyone who took the floor for UH made a significant contribution against the Runnin' Rebels.
Guard Jason Carter returned from a knee injury to give the Rainbows a boost with nine points and stepped in for Mark Campbell when the senior went to the bench with foul trouble.
Nkeruwem Akpan was whistled for two fouls in the game's first three minutes, but didn't pick up another the rest of the way and finished with 12 points.
Vaidotas Peciukas, a small forward, gave the Rainbows seven points and valuable minutes while playing out of position to spell foul-plagued forward Phil Martin.
"It was a good win because we went into a hostile place and we didn't let adversity bother us, the travel, foul trouble," Wallace said. "They just kept playing and that shows me that they are maturing."
The team had hoped it might be granted a home game on Monday, but decided to stay in Nevada another day when it learned it would have to travel to Minnesota.
"I think it's good for us to stay here," Wallace said. "It's a little warmer before we head up north where it's colder and drearier this time of year. And it's a nice reward."
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