ASSOCIATED PRESS Milia Macfarlane of Hawaii drove against Fresno's Miranda Swearengin on Thursday night.

UH studies up
after bad loss

"We are like a fighter that got knocked down. We have to decide whether to get up or quit," Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball coach Jim Bolla said.

Hawaii is coming off its worst loss (by 22 points to Fresno State Thursday) under the first-year coach. Now it is up to the Wahine to play as a different team today when they meet Nevada at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center in a Western Athletic Conference game.

"They won't quit. We had a good workout (Friday)," said Bolla.

Wahine Basketball Nevada at Hawaii When: Today, 7 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: None Radio: None Tickets: All seats general admission. $8 adults; $7 seniors; UH students with valid ID, children age 4-18 free. Parking: $3 Notes: The Wahine lead the series 18-4. They are 9-0 at home. UH won the last meeting 63-54 at home on Feb. 12. ... Jade Abele needs four 3-pointers to tie April Atuaia for fourth place on the UH career list. ... The Wahine have made a 3-pointer in 83 consecutive games.

The Wahine players watched film for an hour, broken down into offense and defense, of the FSU thumping.

"It showed how bad we were," Bolla said. "For some reason we were not ready to play."

The Wahine (4-4, 0-1 WAC) had little success protecting the lane against FSU's penetration, did not block out well, didn't shoot well even on layup chances and did not respond to the Bulldogs' screens. Hawaii had faced a lot of pressure defenses prior to Thursday, but did not handle FSU's well and never got a transition game going.

"When we ran the press break the way it is supposed to be run we got scoring opportunities, but when we played around and dribbled, we didn't," Bolla said. "Fresno got a lot of second chances because we didn't block out. We were getting pushed under the basket. We have to make a stand higher up in the lane. When we don't rebound, two things happen and they are both bad. Either the other team scores or we foul."

All of these deficiencies were addressed in practice yesterday. The Wahine's learning curve will be tested tonight.

Nevada (4-7, 0-1) lost its league opener 76-63 to San Jose State on Thursday. The Wolf Pack were led by senior Talisha Anderson's 21 points.

However, the Wolf Pack had difficulty dealing with the bigger Spartans, especially post players Nica Gemo and Amber Jackson, who posted game highs of 32 points and 10 rebounds.

"Nevada runs a lot of motion, use a lot of screens and back screens for back-door plays," Bolla said. "We need to have a lot of talk on the floor so our people know when a screen is coming. Then we have to ride the screen and not let people just step in front of us."

There will be no electronic media breaks, so Bolla expects his players to let him know when they need rest. He says he will need to use more players tonight.

The Wahine must avoid being taken out of their set offense when that is necessary, but preferably they can get their transition game in gear.