[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Spartans complete sweep
of Rainbow Wahine
There is something about the San Jose State women's basketball team that brings out the ugly in Hawaii. The Spartans handed the Rainbow Wahine their worst loss of the season in round one of Western Athletic Conference play and dished out more yesterday in a 62-50 win before 464 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Spartans swept the series for the first time in school history and snapped a three-game losing streak. Hawaii fell to 5-14 overall and 3-7 in WAC play.
The Rainbow Wahine were short-staffed yesterday, with senior April Atuaia missing. Atuaia is serving a one-week suspension for a violation of team rules. Hawaii coach Vince Goo would not comment on the specific nature of the violations. Goo said the suspension pertained to Atuaia's responsibilities off the basketball court.
"We can't say what -- that's privacy -- but it's an infraction of team policy," Goo said.
Atuaia had not started a game since Hawaii's loss at Texas-El Paso on Jan. 22, but had given the Wahine quality minutes off the bench. Atuaia led Hawaii in scoring last Saturday against Tulsa.
Atuaia's absence will hurt Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine visit Louisiana Tech on Thursday and Southern Methodist on Saturday.
"April makes a huge difference with this team," Spartans coach Janice Richard said. "They're definitely a different team without her.
"The girls felt better playing without Chenne (Tuimoloau) when they saw April wasn't out there."
San Jose State (13-6, 5-5) has lost three players since its win against the Wahine and played with nine players yesterday. Senior guard Cricket Williams scored 20 points. Lindsay Harris and Lamisha Augustine each added 12 points.
Junior Jade Abele led Hawaii with 12 points and freshman Janevia Taylor scored 11 points.
"We played a lot better than last time," Abele said. "The effort was there, but they're so strong inside. Those Taylor twins were powerful."
Teoma Taylor finished with 10 rebounds as the Spartans outrebounded the Wahine 41-28.
Three critical minutes in the second half did Hawaii in. After Amy Sanders knocked down a 3-pointer for a 35-33 advantage, the Spartans scored 11 unanswered points. Abele ended the drought by converting two from the charity stripe, but it was too late. Hawaii went nine minutes without a field goal while San Jose State continued its scoring barrage. The Rainbow Wahine were 5-for-24 from the field in the second half.
"We shot 21 percent. You can't shoot 21 percent and expect to win a ballgame," Goo said. "We had good shots. They played pretty good defense."
The Spartans led 51-39 before freshman Pam Tambini sank a short jumper to end the field-goal drought with 7:27 left in the game. Janevia Taylor buried a 3-pointer, but Hawaii was assessed a technical foul for having six players on the floor. Williams sank both free throws.
"With each other, sometimes we break down on the plays," said Tambini, who was playing for the first time since Dec. 16, when a foot injury sidelined her for 11 games. " Sometimes we can't hear too well. It's not any one individual. We need everybody communicating and coming together to play hard."
San Jose State started where it left off last time against Hawaii. Williams fired a 3-pointer on the Spartans' first possession for a 3-0 lead. The game seesawed back and forth, with neither team able to take control. Williams' second 3-pointer keyed a 10-4 run as San Jose pulled ahead 28-22.
The Rainbow Wahine erased that deficit in the final minutes of the first half after a 3-pointer from Dalia Solia got Hawaii within one at 28-27. Abele powered her way through the lane for Hawaii's first lead since the opening minutes. But Harris' second trey of the game put the Spartans up 31-29 at the half. Despite playing without its best 3-point shooter in Tuimoloau, San Jose State went 4-for-7 from long range in the first half.
San Jose State 62, Hawaii 50
SPARTANS (13-6, 5-5 WAC)
WAHINE (5-14, 3-7 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Williams 6 15 5 7 40 5 6 20 McGlaston 3 5 0 0 36 8 3 6 Harris 4 10 1 1 25 2 1 12 Ta.Taylor 1 5 0 0 20 3 0 2 Te.Taylor 3 7 0 0 28 10 2 6 Gemo 0 2 0 0 10 5 1 0 Augustine 5 12 2 4 25 3 1 12 Morris 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 Forster 2 2 0 0 12 3 0 4 Team 1 Totals 24 59 8 12 200 41 14 62
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 16 0 1 30 4 4 11 Abele 3 11 6 8 36 3 4 12 Nishimoto 1 1 0 0 10 0 0 2 Sanders 2 3 0 0 18 2 0 5 Solia 1 3 0 0 17 3 0 3 Crouch 0 0 0 0 10 2 0 0 Macfarlane 1 2 0 0 17 1 0 3 Spooner 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 Tambini 2 9 2 4 23 6 0 7 Lee 1 1 1 2 5 0 0 3 Grice 0 3 4 4 31 2 1 4 Team 4 Totals 16 49 13 19 200 28 9 50
Halftime -- SJSU 31, Hawaii 29.
3-point goals -- SJSU 6-13 (Williams 3-6, Harris 3-7), Hawaii 5-9 (Sanders 1-1, Solia 1-1, Macfarlane 1-1, Taylor 1-2, Tambini 1-2, Abele 0-2). Personal fouls -- SJSU 16, Hawaii 13. Fouled out -- None.
Steals -- SJSU 9 (Williams 3, McGlaston 3, Harris 3), Hawaii 9 (Nishimoto 2, Solia 2, Grice 2, Taylor, Tambini, Lee). Blocked shots -- SJSU 1 (Te.Taylor), Hawaii 7 (Grice 3, Abele 2, Sanders, Solia). Turnovers -- SJSU 18 (Williams 4, McGlaston 3, Harris 3, Ta.Taylor 3, Te.Taylor 2, Augustine 2, Morris), Hawaii 14 (Macfarlane 4, Taylor 3, Nishimoto 2, Sanders 2, Abele, Solia, Tambini). Officials -- Fujimoto, Johnson, Yamasaki. A -- 464.