Wahine tip Bears;
Frogs take title
The Hawaii basketball team's first 2004-05 victory was not easy.
The Rainbow Wahine trailed just once in edging California 70-68 yesterday. They learned an important lesson in the process.
"All we put on the board (in the locker room) before the game was 'Finish and Win'," said Hawaii coach Jim Bolla.
The Wahine (1-2) took their first halftime lead (37-26) of the season, then fended off a determined and physical Golden Bear team to claim seventh place in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Texas Christian knocked off a ranked team for the second consecutive day, defeating No. 13 Michigan State 80-75 to win the Classic title.
"It's rare you get the opportunity to do that, but we took advantage of the situation and used a great push in the last 7 minutes to win," said TCU coach Jeff Mittie.
Down 61-51 with 8:07 to play, the Lady Frogs (5-1, 3-0) outscored the Spartans (4-1, 2-1) 29-14 the rest of the way and defensively put the clamps on MSU guard Lindsay Bowen, who had already scored 27 points.
"What we did was make a change in our offense and execute it well. Since we weren't in foul trouble, we went to a man-to-man defense to get more pressure and that worked well," said Mittie. "The key down the stretch was our rebounding."
The Lady Frogs held a 47-36 edge in boards, with 21 coming at the offensive end. Classic Most Valuable Player Sandora Irvin had 17 rebounds and led TCU with 23 points.
Bowen finished with a career-high 33 points.
Hawaii 70, California 68
After going stone cold from the field in their previous two tournament games, the Wahine scored enough points in the final minutes to get the W."How many games have we been even at the 3-minute mark? We call it cuckoo time," said UH forward Jade Abele, who scored 21 points and had six rebounds and six assists.
"Today, we finally won one of those close games. Alofa (Toiaivao) stepped it up. I'm so glad to see her have a good day."
Toiaivao played 30 minutes, in part because starting center Brittany Grice was in foul trouble, and contributed 17 points and game highs for rebounds (10) and blocked shots (5).
"After a win, I feel pretty excited. I'm starting to get more comfortable competing against other teams instead of my teammates in practice," said Toiaivao, a 6-foot-4 sophomore center who sat out last year. "There are still some things I need to work on, especially shooting with my left hand."
Bolla says Toiaivao is very talented but is still playing catch-up.
"When Alofa figures out how good she can be, she will do this every game," said Bolla.
Amy Sanders led Hawaii in the first half with 12 points.
The Wahine made a strong effort to penetrate early and had success. The Golden Bears (1-3, 0-3) were playing a half-court pressure defense and once the Wahine got past the Cal guards, the lane was available for driving.
Bolla's concern at the half was the rebounding and letting his players know that California wasn't going to give up, that UH could not allow the Golden Bears to hang in there.
The Wahine maintained a decent shooting percentage after intermission, but the Golden Bears got better and they tied the score at 62-62 with 3:36 to play on a short hook in the lane by Leigh Gregory, who finished with a game-high 23 points.
The Wahine regained the lead when Janevia Taylor drove the baseline and whipped a pass out to Abele at the top of the arc. Abele buried the trey.
Gregory responded with a layup, but Taylor hit a 17-foot jumper from the right side with 1:48 to play. After a Cal miss, Abele drove the lane for a layup and a 69-64 lead with 36 ticks on the clock.
"Both 'Nevi and I wanted the ball at the end. I don't know how she did it, but she made a great pass to me," said Abele.
Kiki Williams' jumper cut the UH lead to three points (69-66), but Taylor sank the second of two free throws with 11 seconds left for a four-point cushion the Wahine would need, as Gregory scored again with 2 seconds remaining.
"We have to believe that whoever takes the shot at the end will help us win. We learned how to finish today," said Bolla.
No 3. Georgia 87, Santa Clara 68
The Lady Bulldogs dominated the boards (45-30) and steadily pulled away in the second half of the third-place game.Cori Chambers and Tasha Humphrey each scored 18 points for Georgia (4-1, 2-1). Ashley Graham had 18 points for the Broncos (1-3, 1-2).
Utah 57, Idaho 50
The Utes (3-2, 2-1) got 14 points from Shona Thorburn and 11 from Kim Smith and Julie Wood to win the fifth-place game.Utah converted six of eight free throws down the stretch after the Vandals (3-2, 1-2) closed to within two points (49-47) with 3:06 to play on a layup by Emily Faurholt.
Idaho guard Leilani Mitchell led all scorers with 19 points.
Hawaii 70, California 68
Golden Bears (1-3, 0-3 RWC) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Pool 0 2 0 0 33 4 5 0 Erdogan 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 Iwanaga 4 6 0 0 29 4 1 12 Levy 0 1 0 0 12 2 2 0 Foster 0 2 0 0 8 1 2 0 Gregory 10 14 2 2 35 2 1 23 Lawson 6 15 6 9 31 7 0 18 Williams 2 5 0 0 14 1 0 5 Sanchez 0 2 1 2 4 2 0 1 Wright 4 5 0 0 24 6 1 8 Coakley 0 0 1 2 7 1 0 1 Team 1 Totals 26 53 10 15 200 31 12 68 Rainbow Wahine (1-2, 1-2 RWC) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Taylor 3 7 1 2 31 2 2 7 Abele 7 12 4 6 38 6 6 21 Nishimoto 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 Sanders 4 10 3 4 35 7 1 12 Macfarlane 4 5 2 2 21 1 4 11 Spooner 0 2 0 2 19 1 0 0 Aiwohi 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Grice 1 2 0 0 20 2 1 2 Toiaivao 7 12 3 4 30 10 1 17 Team 1 Totals 26 53 13 20 201 30 15 70 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 37, California 26
3-point goals--California 6-14 (Iwanaga 4-6, Gregory 1-1, Williams 1-4, Pool 0-1, Sanchez 0-2); Hawaii 5-9 (Abele 3-5, Macfarlane 1-1, Sanders 1-2, Taylor 0-1). Personal fouls--California 20, Hawaii 16. Fouled out--Grice.
Steals--California 3 (Iwanaga 2, Pool); Hawaii 9 (Abele 3, Toiaivao 3, Spooner 2, Sanders). Blocked shots--California 3 (Gregory, Lawson, Pool); Hawaii 5 (Toiaivao 5). Turnovers--California 19 (Lawson 5, Pool 4, Wright 3, Levy 2, Erdogan, Foster, Gregory, Sanchez, Williams); Hawaii 15 (Sanders 3, Taylor 3, Toiaivao 3, Abele 2, Grice, Nishimoto, Spooner); Officials--Kirk Hottendorf, Bryan Barr, Mike Ishikawa. A--n/a.
