[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Tulsa tops UH for
third straight win
Just because a team is young doesn't necessarily mean it has to struggle.
Tulsa proved that much yesterday. The Golden Hurricane blew into town and snatched a 63-55 win from Hawaii before a crowd of 617 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Golden Hurricane (13-6, 6-3) start just one senior and four underclassmen but picked up their fourth straight win (and fifth in their last six games) to stay firmly in third in the Western Athletic Conference. Hawaii fell to 5-13 and 3-6 and is seventh in the WAC.
Clearly the Rainbow Wahine were frustrated at losing another game that was within reach. Hawaii shot well from the field but got beat on the glass and ultimately was sucked into a running game it didn't want to play. The Golden Hurricane fought furiously for every rebound, got numerous second chances and dictated the tempo of the game.
"With a lot of their rebounds, they scored or they went to the free-throw line. You have to acknowledge their efforts on the boards," Hawaii coach Vince Goo said. "We played good defense and they continued going hard to the boards.
"Every shot we took in the first half was great. Second half, we took some quick shots and gave them transition and they blew it up the floor."
It definitely wasn't part of Hawaii's game plan.
"We didn't want to run with this team," said freshman Janevia Taylor. "Tulsa is quick and we didn't want to play their running game. There were times we played their game and they took advantage of that.
"We took some quick shots on offense sometimes and it gave them opportunities to get runs on us. They went hard to the boards. All of them crashed. They got a lot of offensive rebounds."
Senior April Atuaia led Hawaii with 13 points. Junior Jade Abele added 11 points and Taylor finished with 10 points.
The Rainbow Wahine held the Golden Hurricane to 35.7 percent shooting from the field. Unfortunately most of the Golden Hurricane's baskets came on second chances. Tulsa outrebounded Hawaii 42-37, including 15 offensive rebounds.
Sophomore Emily Jaskowiak led Tulsa with a double-double (13 rebounds, 15 points) but it was freshman sensation Jillian Robbins who burned the nets. Robbins finished with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
Hawaii led 47-45 with 7:25 left in the game before Robbins scored four straight to put Tulsa up for good. Robbins missed most of the first half as she went to the bench with three fouls and 12:28 to play. She scored the Golden Hurricane's first eight points before sitting down.
"The first thing we say is 'Don't panic.' When you panic, things go wrong and you have turnovers," said Robbins, the WAC's fourth leading scorer. "We have faith in each other. Everybody steps up when it's their turn."
WAC women's standings
Yesterday
Conference All games W L Pct. W L Pct. Louisiana Tech. 8 1 .889 15 2 .882 Rice 8 1 .889 11 7 .611 Tulsa 6 3 .667 13 6 .684 UTEP 5 4 .556 10 8 .556 SMU 5 4 .556 9 9 .500 San Jose St. 3 6 .333 12 6 .667 Boise St. 3 6 .333 6 12 .333 Hawaii 3 6 .333 5 13 .278 Nevada 2 7 .222 3 16 .158 Fresno St. 1 8 .111 7 12 .368
Tulsa 63, Hawaii 55
SMU 66, Boise St. 41
Nevada 71, Fresno St. 53
Rice 74, San Jose St. 60
No. 9 Louisiana Tech 75, UTEP58
Tulsa 63, Hawaii 55
GOLDEN HURRICANE (13-6, 6-3 WAC)
WAHINE (5-13, 3-6 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Pongonis 1 5 4 4 23 2 4 7 Brewer 0 5 5 6 40 6 6 5 Robbins 8 16 6 7 28 7 1 22 Jaskowiak 7 12 1 3 33 13 0 15 Mays 0 3 3 4 16 3 0 3 Merriweather 0 1 2 2 7 1 0 2 Chiconas 1 2 0 0 10 1 0 2 Moody 3 9 1 2 35 8 1 7 Wagoner 0 2 0 0 5 1 0 0 Heidotten 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 20 56 22 28 200 42 12 63
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 Taylor 5 14 0 0 31 6 2 10 Abele 4 10 2 2 31 8 2 11 Nishimoto 0 1 0 0 10 0 1 0 Sanders 2 6 0 0 28 3 0 4 Solia 1 6 0 0 10 2 0 2 Crouch 1 2 0 0 11 0 0 3 Macfarlane 3 6 0 0 15 2 2 7 Atuaia 4 8 4 4 19 4 1 13 Spooner 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Aiwohi 0 1 0 0 6 0 1 0 Lee 0 2 3 4 20 6 1 3 Grice 1 1 0 1 15 3 0 2 Team 3 Totals 21 57 9 11 200 37 10 55
Halftime -- Tulsa 31, Hawaii 31.
3-point goals -- Tulsa 1-9 (Pongonis 1-4, Brewer 0-2, Moody 0-3), Hawaii 4-19 (Atuaia 1-1, Macfarlane 1-2, Crouch 1-2, Abele 1-6, Solia 0-1, Aiwohi 0-1, Nishimoto 0-1, Taylor 0-5). Personal fouls -- Tulsa 9, Hawaii 18. Fouled out -- Grice.
Steals -- Tulsa 2 (Robbins, Moody), Hawaii 7 (Taylor 2, Nishimoto, Crouch, Macfarlane, Atuaia, Lee). Blocked shots -- Tulsa 5 (Moody 3, Robbins 2), Hawaii 6 (Abele 2, Grice 2, Solia, Macfarlane). Turnovers -- Tulsa 11 (Jaskowiak 3, Pongonis 2, Robbins 2, Brewer, Mays, Chiconas, Wagoner), Hawaii 14 (Abele 5, Taylor 2, Sanders 2, Macfarlane 2, Atuaia, Lee, Grice). Officials -- Barlow, Morris, Hottendorf. A -- 617.