[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]

UH’s road swing
comes full circle

Two days after the Hawaii women's basketball team ended a six-game road losing streak that began with an 83-45 Western Athletic Conference loss to Louisiana Tech on Feb. 12, 2004, the Wahine are back in Ruston, La., to play the Lady Techsters again.

Whether the confidence and good feelings the Wahine took away from the upset win over Southern Methodist on Thursday are enough for them to pull another stunner tonight is a good question.

LaTech (9-4 overall, 5-0 WAC) has won all 13 games against UH and was the coaches' preseason pick to win a fourth consecutive conference title.

In five WAC games, the Lady Techsters have either trailed at the half or led by a small margin. But they have outscored opponents by an average of 11.6 points in the second half.

San Jose State led 24-22 at intermission Thursday, but LaTech dominated the second half to win its 21st consecutive WAC game 66-52.

"I think (LaTech coach Kurt Budke) gets on them at halftime about playing as a team," UH coach Jim Bolla said.

The Lady Techsters have met all the challenges in league games without senior guard and preseason WAC Player of the Year Erica Taylor. She has yet to play after giving birth to a daughter Dec. 14.

Their scorers are Tasha Crain (16.2 points per game), Shan Moore (13.2) and Lakiste Barkus (11.5).

"LaTech runs a lot of motion and shoots with the idea they can get rebounds and second opportunities," Bolla said. "We rebounded well against SMU and that will be a key for us against LaTech.

"What I was really proud of was we were down eight at the half, but kept it close and got big baskets when we needed them. We shot better than our previous game, but we're still not shooting as well as I want.

"If we are ready, we can give LaTech a good game, but we are going to have to play really well to win here."

Jade Abele leads the Wahine in scoring with 13.1 points per game. Janevia Taylor is averaging 12.3 points and Alofa Toiaivao 10.4.