ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boise State's Nadia Begay tried to get past Hawaii's April Atuaia during the Broncos' 59-56 WAC tournament victory.
Wahine’s season over
Boise State beats UH in the
first round of the WAC tournament
FRESNO, Calif. >> Vince Goo looks down the Hawaii women's basketball team roster and foresees big things for the Rainbow Wahine in years to come.
WAC TOURNAMENT
BOISE ST. 59 HAWAII 56
(End of season)
With just one senior departing from a team with 10 freshmen and sophomores, Goo believes the foundation for the future is in place.
But the next time the Wahine take the court, they will be led by someone other than the man who directed the growth of the program over the last 17 seasons.
Meanwhile, Goo, whose tenure as UH head coach ended with yesterday's 59-56 loss to Boise State in the first round of the McCaffrey Western Athletic Conference tournament, will be settling into retirement.
"I'm going to be sitting up there watching them play and when they come up with the big wins I'm going to chuckle and say, 'I took all those losses for them their freshman year and now they're reaping the benefits,' " Goo said after the defeat in the opening game of the tournament at the Save Mart Center.
Goo's final season will go into the books as one of his most challenging, as the Wahine ended the season at 8-20, finishing with a losing record for only the second time in his career. He completed his career with a 334-166 record.
Boise State forward Cassidy Blaine ended Hawaii's season by draining a 3-pointer from the left corner with 6.3 seconds left and lifting the Broncos to their first victory over Hawaii in seven tries.
The Broncos (9-19), the ninth seed in the tournament, advanced to face top-seeded Louisiana Tech in a quarterfinals game today.
"I can't say enough for Vince Goo and what he's done for the WAC," first-year Boise State coach Jen Warden said. "Even though I'm just a rookie here I have tremendous respect for him. Year in and year out he's got one of the best-coached teams in the conference."
The Broncos closed off Hawaii's driving lane and clogged the post with a 2-3 zone defense. UH responded by launching a tournament- and school-record 31 3-pointers, hitting nine.
"When they came out in the zone we took the shots that they gave us," UH junior Jade Abele said. "We just weren't quite getting them to drop, and if we did, that would have made a major turnaround in the ballgame."
UH freshman point guard Janevia Taylor drained four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 18 points. Abele scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Amy Sanders recorded eight points and set career highs with 11 rebounds and six assists.
April Atuaia, Hawaii's lone senior, finished with seven points.
The Broncos are nearly as young as the Wahine and relied on two freshmen and a sophomore down the stretch.
Freshman forward Michelle Hessing led Boise State with 16 points, and Nadia Begay, another freshman, had 13. Blaine, the sophomore, made just one of five 3-pointers, but her shot proved to be the game-winner.
Roosevelt graduate Jodi Nakashima did not score, but had four rebounds, an assist and two steals.
Neither team shot the ball well, as UH finished at 33 percent and Boise State made 36 percent of its shots from the field. But both teams drilled clutch shots down the stretch.
The Broncos trailed 53-51 with 1:25 left when Begay's 3-pointer danced on the rim before falling to give BSU the lead.
After a bucket by Jamie Hawkins gave Boise State a 56-53 advantage, Atuaia took a pass at the top of the key and zipped a 3-pointer to tie the game with 23.4 seconds left.
On Boise State's next possession, the Broncos found Blaine open in the corner on an inbounds play and drained the game-winner.
"The whole team knew exactly what they were going to do in that set," Warden said. "That's something we've been working for, to be able to execute on the fly."
Hawaii took possession with 6.3 seconds left, but couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer.
Although wins were few in his final season, Goo said this year's club will hold a special place in his memory.
"Of the 17 teams I've had, this team has been the most resilient," he said. "Maybe we didn't play as well as we wanted to because of our youth, but they battled hard every single game, competed hard every practice. I think they're No. 1 of my 17 teams as far as the competitiveness they have in them."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Amber Lee grabbed a rebound during yesterday's game in Fresno, Calif.
Boise State 59, Hawaii 56
BRONCOS (9-19)
WAHINE (8-20)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Blaine 3 12 2 2 39 7 4 9 Hawkins 3 7 0 0 18 7 2 6 Little 1 3 0 0 11 3 1 2 Grondin 2 4 0 0 31 1 1 5 Nakashima 0 5 0 0 24 4 1 0 Begay 5 8 0 0 26 3 1 13 Ramirez 2 6 0 0 15 6 2 5 Hill 0 1 3 4 9 3 1 3 Hessing 5 12 6 11 27 5 0 16 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 21 58 11 17 200 44 13 59
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Abele 4 10 5 5 30 9 1 14 Grice 1 2 2 2 20 3 0 4 Taylor 7 17 0 0 38 4 4 18 Sanders 3 12 0 0 34 11 6 8 Tambini 1 9 0 0 23 4 3 3 Nishimoto 0 2 0 0 9 0 1 0 Solia 0 1 0 0 12 0 1 0 Macfarlane 1 2 0 0 2 1 0 2 Atuaia 3 5 0 0 14 1 1 7 Spooner 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Aiwohi 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Lee 0 1 0 0 16 2 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 20 61 7 7 200 38 17 56
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-Hawaii 28, BSU 24.
3-point goals-- Hawaii 9-31 (Taylor 4-8, Sanders 2-7, Atuaia 1-1, Abele 1-5, Tambini 1-6, Macfarlane 0-1, Solia 0-1, Nishimoto 0-2); BSU 6-18 (Begay 3-6, Grondin 1-2, Ramirez 1-2, Blaine 1-5, Nakashima 0-3). Personal fouls-- Hawaii 17, BSU 10. Technical fouls--none. Steals-- Hawaii 7 (Taylor 2, Abele, Aiwohi, Grice, Nishimoto, Tambini); BSU 6 (Nakashima 2, Grondin, Hessing, Hill, Ramirez). Blocked shots-- Hawaii 5 (Grice 2, Lee, Solia, Tambini); BSU 1 (Hessing). Turnovers-- Hawaii 9 (Abele 3, Sanders 2, Grice, Macfarlane, Tambini); BSU 11 (Grondin 3, Hessing 3, Hawkins 2, Begay, Blaine, Little). Officials--Barlow, Jones, Adams. A--n/a.
