[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Abele’s heroics
not enoughHer 18 points despite a foot injury
couldn’t lead UH over UTEP
after a bizarre ending
EL PASO, Texas >> Injury? What injury?
Hawaii forward Jade Abele hurt her right foot in practice Wednesday but still led the Rainbow Wahine basketball team in scoring yesterday with a game-high 18 points. Unfortunately for UH, her efforts were wasted in a 44-39 loss to Texas-El Paso.
The Miners (9-6, 4-2 Western Athletic Conference) picked up their first win in 13 attempts against the Wahine (4-11, 2-4).
"As soon as the Doc said it was up to me, I was planning on (playing)," said Abele, who tore scar tissue on her fifth metatarsal, an injury she originally suffered six years ago. "It didn't bother me much thanks to our trainer. There were parts in the game I didn't feel it at all, so that was a big bonus."
Added Hawaii coach Vince Goo: "I think if we had every kid on our team as tough as she is, we could be pretty good."
Abele was on crutches and questionable before the game, but she played 36 minutes and rarely got any rest. Her gritty performance was overshadowed by a bizarre ending to a game played before 497 at the Don Haskins Center.
With 9.9 ticks left and UTEP leading 42-39, the scoreboard indicated that Hawaii had four team fouls, when it should have been five. Hawaii fouled immediately following a Miners timeout and then freshman Janevia Taylor was whistled for another foul.
That should have been Hawaii's seventh team foul, but the referees thought it was Hawaii's sixth. UTEP inbounded the ball again and sophomore Amy Sanders fouled Angie McGee with 7.3 seconds left.
The officials had a lengthy discussion that spanned at least five minutes before McGee stepped to the line. The junior made her first free throw with the lane clear before officials realized she was the wrong shooter. Then UTEP senior Noni Wharemate sank two from the charity stripe to push the Miners' lead to 44-39.
Following a timeout, McGee was fouled and went to the line again but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Hawaii dribbled out the time and did not get a chance to get another shot off. In addition to the confusion at the end, the officials missed a media timeout with two minutes left in the game.
Despite the officiating miscues, Goo said the blame was not on the referees.
"I told the referees I will bet them as much money as they got that they don't know who's supposed to shoot the first one-and-one," he said. "And they said 55 (McGee) got fouled twice in a row. ... I said you're lying.
"(But) this is the key to the game. It wasn't what happened at the end. We got outplayed in the first half. It was 10 offensive rebounds for them and zero for us. In the second half, we outplayed them and made a real good comeback."
Hawaii held UTEP to 27.6 percent shooting from the field. Unfortunately for the Wahine, they weren't much better at 30.8 percent. UTEP outrebounded Hawaii 42-30.
The Wahine trailed at the intermission and throughout most of the second half before an 8-0 run late in the game closed the deficit to 38-35 with 3:38 left on the clock. The Miners stretched their lead back to five at 42-37 on two free throws from Charnette Phelps. Abele made it a three-point gap after converting two free throws after driving to the basket. On Hawaii's ensuing possession, Abele drove again and got fouled, but this time she missed the front end of a one-and-one.
"We had a few turnovers to start the second half, a bit shaky," Abele said. "We definitely came back in the second half, which was good, but we were down. ... And then I missed my bloody free throws (on the last one-and-one)."
Abele didn't get much support again from her teammates. Taylor had eight points and two steals for the Wahine. Freshman Brittany Grice grabbed 12 rebounds and added six points, while senior April Atuaia chipped in seven points.
Guard Vaida Zagurskyte scored 13 points to lead the Miners.
Despite her performance, Abele was disappointed in the outcome.
"I was hoping we'd come away 2-0 on this one," she said. "This is usually our good road trip."
The Rainbow Wahine will try to salvage a split of the road trip tomorrow. Hawaii plays Boise State at 11 a.m. at the Boise State Pavilion. The Wahine lead the series with the Broncos 4-0.
WAC women's standings
Yesterday
Conference All games W L Pct. W L Pct. Louisiana Tech. 5 1 .833 12 2 .857 Rice 5 1 .833 8 7 .533 UTEP 4 2 .667 9 6 .600 San Jose St. 3 3 .500 12 3 .800 Tulsa 3 3 .500 10 6 .625 SMU 3 3 .500 7 8 .467 Boise St. 3 3 .500 6 9 .400 Hawaii 2 4 .333 4 11 .267 Fresno St. 1 6 .167 7 10 .412 Nevada 1 6 .143 2 15 .118
UTEP 44, Hawaii 39
San Jose St. 76, Boise St. 70
Tulsa 74, Nevada 57
Rice 97, Fresno St. 55
UTEP 44, Hawaii 39
WAHINE (4-11, 2-4)
MINERS (9-6, 4-2 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Abele 4 11 9 12 36 6 0 18 Grice 2 4 2 2 25 12 0 6 Taylor 4 10 0 0 35 1 4 8 Sanders 0 0 0 0 19 2 0 0 Atuaia 2 8 2 2 26 2 1 7 Solia 0 2 0 0 13 0 0 0 Macfarlane 0 2 0 0 23 1 1 0 Aiwohi 0 1 0 0 8 0 0 0 Lee 0 1 0 0 15 4 0 0 TEAM 2 Totals 12 39 13 16 200 30 6 39
Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Phelps 0 2 2 2 25 6 0 2 McGee 2 9 0 1 33 8 2 5 Zagurskyte 5 15 2 2 40 5 3 13 Wharemate 0 2 2 2 21 2 3 2 Valtierra 4 9 0 0 39 4 2 10 Dydek 1 7 0 0 12 4 0 2 Launiainen 0 4 0 0 12 1 1 0 Dowell 1 3 0 0 7 2 0 2 Goslin 3 7 2 2 11 7 0 8 TEAM 3 Totals 16 58 8 9 200 42 11 44
Halftime-UTEP 24, Hawaii 17.
3-point goals-- Hawaii 2-10 (Abele, Atuaia), UTEP 4-15 (Valtierra 2, McGee, Zagurskyte). Personal fouls-- Hawaii 13, UTEP 17. Steals-- Hawaii 5 (Lee 3, Taylor 2); UTEP 7 (Zargurskyte 3, Dydek 2, McGee, Wharemate). Blocked shots-- Hawaii 6 (Grice 4, Atuaia, Solia); UTEP 2 (Dydek 2); Turnovers-- Hawaii 14 (Abele 3, Grice 3, Macfarlane 3, Sanders 2, Solia 2, Taylor); UTEP 12 (Wharemate 3, Zagurskyte 2, Valtierra 2, Phelps 2, McGee, Dydek, Goslin). A--497.