Hawaii hit with
second loss
Seven is supposed to be a lucky number. Not true so far for the Hawaii women's basketball team, losers of both games this season by seven points.
The Utah Utes, who trailed UH for almost 8 minutes in the second half, rallied in the final 6 minutes to pull out a 52-45 victory in a consolation-bracket semifinal-round game of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Texas Christian, a 64-63 upset winner over No. 3 Georgia in yesterday's final game, plays No. 13 Michigan State in the championship game today at 5:30 p.m.
The up-tempo aspect of the Rainbow Wahine (0-2 overall, 0-2 tourney) game was absent most of yesterday afternoon. Both teams played strong defense and the Utes (2-2, 1-1) controlled the boards at both ends, especially the offensive end, where they had 17 rebounds.
"We wanted to pressure the ball and tried to trap at the point so they didn't have easy entry to their post players," said UH guard Janevia Taylor. "It worked pretty well.
"Basically, we could have gone full blast, but you have to give them credit. They brought their post player out on our screen. That slowed us down and we had to think about what to do."
The Wahine led 41-36 with 7:22 to play but all they managed the rest of the game were Alofa Toiaivao's layup at 6:25 and a jumper that banked in from the left side by Dalia Solia at 2:06.
"It was the same thing as the first game," said UH coach Jim Bolla. "We're trying to address the problem. We talked to a bunch of players today about finishing. We had layups, but we were off balance. When you are off balance in a physical game, you are not going to get the call because you are not in control. And those three turnovers at the end hurt."
The Utes knew how to finish. A 3-pointer by Kim Smith closed their deficit to one point and Julie Wood's trey put the Utes ahead 44-43 with 3:53 left. Smith would continue to dominate, hitting a spinning layup from the right side, then getting fouled three times after UH misses or turnovers at the other end and making five of six from the line.
Smith finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
"Even when we boxed out they would go right over our heads. It was very physical," said UH guard Amy Sanders.
The Wahine play California (1-2, 0-2), another physical team, for seventh place at 11 a.m. today.
Utah meets Idaho for fifth place at 1:10 p.m.
Hawaii started slow, hitting just one of nine field-goal attempts in the first 8 minutes. Utah went up by 11 (24-13) 2:46 before the half. Despite being forced into running more of a set offense, the Wahine scored eight consecutive points on four Jade Abele free throws and baskets by Toiaivao and Brittany Grice to trail 24-21 at the break.
"We know what we have to run. Now it's all about execution," said Taylor.
Abele's 3-pointer put UH ahead 36-34 at the 11:25 mark in the second half. A jumper by Abele with 7:50 to play gave the Wahine their biggest lead, 41-34, but that evaporated over the next 4 minutes.
"We have to understand we can win these games. We didn't get to the foul line enough. We want 50 rebounds a game and we only had 26 today," said Bolla. "We have to come down at the end confident we can get a bucket. We have players who want the ball in that situation."
Texas Christian 64, No. 3 Georgia 63
The Bulldogs were poised to move up in the next Associated Press poll after No. 1 Tennessee lost on Thanksgiving Day, but that won't happen after a semifinal defeat.The Lady Frogs (4-1, 2-0), behind a single-game, career-high 28 points by senior forward Sandora Irvin, avenged last year's second-round loss to Georgia (3-1, 1-1) in the NCAA Tournament and spoiled the Bulldogs' Hawaii trip.
"The key was we got off to a good start and gained confidence," said TCU coach Jeff Mittie. "We stayed in a zone defense longer than planned because (Adrianne) Ross went down (with a leg injury in the second minute) and she is a good defender. But it seemed to work."
Georgia shot just 31 percent from the field and made only six of 28 3-point shots.
TCU had to survive a turnover by Natasha Lacy with 12 seconds left, but a 3-point try by Alexis Kendrick and an attempted putback by Darrah Megan both missed setting off a TCU celebration at midcourt. Irvin also had 15 rebounds and blocked eight shots.
Tasha Humphrey led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
No. 13 Michigan State 81, Santa Clara 59
The taller Spartans (4-0, 2-0) built a 14-point halftime lead in the first semifinal, then held a double-digit lead for all but 22 seconds in the second half. That was when Quinn Thomas sank a 3-pointer to cut Santa Clara's (1-2, 1-1) deficit to nine points with 15:33 left.However, Liz Shimek, Kelli Roehrig and Shimek canned consecutive jump shots and any worry on the MSU bench quickly disappeared. Shimek, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, tied a career high with 19 points. Roehrig, a 6-4 senior center, scored 23 points and had 12 rebounds to help the Spartans control the boards 55-32.
Thomas and Ashley Gonnerman had 16 points for the Broncos, who play Georgia for third place at 3:20 p.m.
Idaho 82, California 72
The Vandals (3-1, 1-1) broke a 47-all tie on Jessica Summers' layup with 14:44 left in the second half. They increased their lead to double digits in the next 4 minutes and maintained it much of the remaining time."We talked at halftime about how they were being really physical and that we had to be physical right back in the second half," said Idaho's sophomore guard Leilani Mitchell, who finished with a game-high 26 points.
The Vandals, who shot 36 percent from the floor in the first half, were more disciplined in the second half and hit 17 of 29 field-goal attempts (58 percent). They also were 25-for-30 from the foul line for the game.
The Golden Bears (1-2, 0-2) took a 39-33 halftime lead as they recycled 12 Idaho first-half turnovers into 14 points that helped offset the Vandals 12-for-16 shooting from the free-throw line.
Utah 52, Hawaii 45
UTES (2-2, 1-1 RWC) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Wood 3 11 0 0 27 0 1 9 Smith 5 12 9 10 38 14 3 20 Thorburn 3 7 2 4 40 9 3 9 Hanchett 3 11 5 6 28 6 1 11 Sitterud 0 3 0 0 15 1 1 0 Brouillard 0 4 2 2 18 1 0 2 Red 0 4 0 0 6 1 0 0 Allen 0 1 1 2 18 5 0 1 Warner 0 2 0 0 10 2 0 0 Team 7 Totals 14 55 19 24 200 46 9 52 Rainbow Wahine (0-2, 0-2 RWC) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Taylor 3 5 3 4 37 7 4 10 Abele 5 12 5 6 30 5 3 18 Sanders 1 6 1 1 31 3 0 3 Macfarlane 1 1 0 0 10 1 1 2 Grice 1 6 0 0 30 2 0 2 Nishimoto 0 3 0 0 7 1 0 0 Solia 1 5 0 2 18 1 0 2 Spooner 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Aiwohi 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 Lee 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Toiaivao 4 9 0 0 28 3 0 8 Team 3 Totals 16 48 9 13 200 26 8 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.
Halftime--Utah 24, Hawaii 21
3-point goals--Utah 5-25 (Wood 3-10, Thorburn 1-3, Smith 1-5, Red 0-3, Sitterud 0-2, Allen 0-1, Warner 0-1); Hawaii 4-10 (Abele 3-4, Taylor 1-1, Solia 0-3, Sanders 0-2). Personal fouls--Utah 17, Hawaii 18
Steals--Utah 5 (Hanchett 2, Allen, Smith, Sitterud); Hawaii 3 (Abele, Macfarlane, Taylor). Blocked shots--Utah 0, Hawaii 7 (Grice 4, Toiaivao 3). Turnovers--Utah 12 (Thorburn 5, Smith 4, Brouillard, Hanchett, Warner) Hawaii 14 (Taylor 6, Abele 2, Sanders 2, Toiaivao 2, Grice, Solia); Officials--Anita Ortega, Brian Yamasaki, Derik Labenz. A--991.
