[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Lady Techsters rout
Wahine in Ruston
RUSTON, La. >> It could have been worse.
At least the Rainbow Wahine basketball team didn't surrender 100 points to sixth-ranked Louisiana Tech. Before a crowd of 3,629 at the Thomas Assembly Center, the Lady Techsters overwhelmed Hawaii 83-45 yesterday. Louisiana Tech (18-2, 11-2) has scored 100 points twice this season in administering other lopsided victories.
LaTech coach Kurt Budke was merciful in guiding the Lady Techsters to their 10th straight win. He pulled most of his starters in the second half in a game decided in the opening 10 minutes.
Senior guard Amber Obaze scored a game-high 17 points. Forward Amisha Carter added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Jade Abele scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting to lead the Rainbow Wahine, who lost their fourth straight. It is the longest losing streak of the season. And the Rainbow Wahine are 0-17 against ranked opposition. There were few expectations for UH to end either losing streak yesterday.
"We played hard. I don't think we played really well at times," Hawaii coach Vince Goo said. "A lot of that had to do with what they did to us. When you take the No. 6 team in the country against the fourth-youngest team in the country, results like this are going to occur."
The Rainbow Wahine were without their lone senior in April Atuaia, who was suspended last week and has not yet been reinstated to the team. The problems that have plagued Hawaii (5-15, 3-8) all season appeared in full force yesterday. The inexperience, the inability to score combined with 29 turnovers made for ugly basketball.
"They came after us with a vengeance," Goo said. "They were very aggressive defensively."
That much was clear from the opening minutes as the Lady Techsters raced out to a 10-0 lead and caused turnovers on Hawaii's first six possessions. UH turned the ball over 17 times in the first half. Horrid free-throw shooting and more turnovers than points doomed Hawaii as Louisiana Tech led 45-17 at the half.
"They built an insurmountable lead on us," Goo said. "They came out and put a lot of pressure on us. Our point guards Tricia (Nishimoto) and Nevie (Taylor) got the ball up the floor really well. But when we got into the half-court offense, that's when our turnovers occurred. We turned it over and they had transition points on us. ... That's a big part of their offense, what they do defensively. Pressure, get steals and run up the floor."
Hawaii took care of the ball a little better in the second half but frigid shooting from the field was fatal. The Rainbow Wahine went five minutes without a field goal as the Lady Techsters pushed the lead to 53-17. Louisiana Tech led by as many as 42 points before shelving a full-court press that wreaked havoc on Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine finished 18 of 51 from the field and 5-for-11 from the free-throw line.
"We thought we competed. We are resigned to the fact that they're a very good ballclub with a good inside, good outside game," Goo said. "A lot of times when you get whipped like that, you look at what you didn't do but a lot of times you need to look at how good your opponents are."
Hawaii's next opponents shouldn't be as fearsome. The Rainbow Wahine have an opportunity to salvage a split of this road trip. Hawaii plays Southern Methodist tomorrow at 10 a.m. The Mustangs (11-10, 7-5) defeated San Jose State yesterday 88-61.
WAC women's standings
Yesterday
Conference All games W L Pct. W L Pct. Louisiana Tech. 11 1 .917 18 2 .900 Rice 10 1 .909 13 7 .650 Tulsa 7 4 .636 14 7 .667 SMU 7 5 .583 11 10 .571 UTEP 7 5 .583 12 9 .550 San Jose St. 5 6 .455 13 7 .650 Boise St. 4 8 .333 7 14 .333 Hawaii 3 8 .273 5 15 .250 Fresno St. 2 10 .167 8 14 .364 Nevada 2 10 .167 3 19 .136
Louisiana Tech 83, Hawaii 45
Boise St. 63, Nevada 52
SMU 88, San Jose St. 61
UTEP 45, Fresno St. 38
Tomorrow (All times Hawaii time)
Hawaii at SMU, 10 a.m.
Fresno State at Boise State, 11 a.m.
Rice at Tulsa, 10 a.m.
Nevada at UTEP, 4:05 p.m.
San Jose State at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m.
Louisiana Tech 83, Hawaii 45
WAHINE (5-15, 3-8 WAC)
Lady Techsters (18-2, 11-1 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Abele 5 8 2 3 27 5 0 14 Grice 0 1 0 0 22 6 1 2 Taylor 3 13 0 0 28 3 1 6 Solia 1 5 0 2 17 7 0 2 Macfarlane 1 4 0 0 22 1 0 2 Nishimoto 1 4 0 0 13 1 0 2 Sanders 3 4 0 0 19 1 2 7 Crouch 1 5 0 2 14 1 1 3 Spooner 1 1 2 2 14 2 0 4 Tambini 1 4 1 2 17 3 0 3 Aiwohi 1 2 0 0 4 0 0 2 Lee 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 TEAM 4 Totals 18 51 5 11 200 34 5 45
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 Carter 5 8 5 6 18 8 2 15 Frierson 4 8 0 0 26 3 2 8 Smith-Taylor 3 8 1 1 18 3 2 8 Crain 2 3 0 0 17 1 4 5 Obaze 7 9 0 0 23 4 4 17 Barkus 4 4 0 0 14 0 2 9 Johnson 1 5 0 0 11 1 0 3 Ray-Boyd 1 5 0 0 18 4 0 2 Moore 4 8 1 1 20 5 3 9 Thompson 2 3 0 1 17 2 1 4 Kursh 2 5 0 0 18 1 0 4 TEAM 2 Totals 35 66 7 9 200 34 20 83
Halftime-Louisiana Tech 45, Hawaii 17.
3-point goals-- Hawaii 4-8 (Abele 2-2, Sanders 1-1, Crouch 1-2, Nishimoto 0-1, Taylor 0-2), La. Tech 6-16 (Obaze 3-3, Crain 1-1, Barkus 1-1, Johnson 1-4, Moore 0-1, Smith-Taylor 0-2, Ray-Boyd 0-4). Personal fouls--Hawaii 9, La. Tech 15.
Steals-- Hawaii 10 (Nishimoto 3, Abele, Grice, Taylor, Solia, Crouch, Tambini, Aiwohi); La. Tech 15 (Barkus 3, Moore 3, Crain 2, Obaze 2, Carter, Smith-Taylor, Ray-Boyd, Thompson, Kursh). Blocked shots-- Hawaii 0; La Tech 2 (Moore, Kursh); Turnovers-- Hawaii 29 (Abele 6, Taylor 5, Solia 4, Nishimoto 4, Tambini 4, Sanders 2, Grice 2); La. Tech 15 (Frierson 2, Smith-Taylor 2, Obaze 2, Johnson 2, Ray-Boyd 2, Moore 2, Kursh 2, Barkus). A--3,629.
