Second-half spurt helps
LaTech run down Wahine

Louisiana Tech displayed its superiority in the second half to defeat Hawaii 68-54 in a Western Athletic Conference women's basketball game last night in Ruston, La.

Down 34-32 at the half, the Lady Techsters (10-4, 6-0 WAC) took advantage of UH centers Brittany Grice (4) and Alofa Toiaivao (3) being in foul trouble at intermission.

LaTech easily wiped out its deficit with a 15-4 run to start the second half. The Lady Techsters' defense held the Rainbow Wahine (6-6, 2-3) to just 12 points for the first 19 minutes of the period before a crowd of 2,370 at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The Wahine twice took 10-point leads, at 25-15 and again at 34-24 with 2:34 left before halftime. Tech scored the final eight points and just kept rolling in the second half.

"It was a game of 17 minutes and some seconds, then we quit executing, had dumb fouls for no real reason and didn't manage the clock well before halftime," UH coach Jim Bolla said.

"We didn't shoot that well in the first half, but got good looks and we had LaTech confused with what we were doing on defense. Still, we had the 10-point lead, possession, but don't score. They run off eight consecutive points and the momentum just swung to them before halftime."

Margaret DeCiman, a 6-foot-7 junior center, made use of her height advantage with Grice and Toiaivao on the bench. DeCiman scored seven of LaTech's first 11 points in the second half.

The Wahine cut their deficit to nine points (55-46) on a Toiaivao free throw with 6:16 remaining, but a 10-1 run by the Lady Techsters ended any UH comeback hopes. Bolla put his reserves in with 3 minutes left.

The Wahine were just 7-for-26 from the field in the second half and rarely got an offensive rebound for a second scoring opportunity.

"I'm disappointed, but I hope we recognize we can play with them when they come to our place," Bolla said. "The first half was fun. We had a lot of positives early. We will learn from this game, learn that a game is 40 minutes."

Jade Abele scored 10 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. Amy Sanders led UH with 11 points.

Fourteen of Abele's rebounds came in the first half, when UH held a 28-23 advantage on the boards. LaTech reversed things in the second half with a commanding 27-14 margin.

Louisiana Tech 68, Hawaii 54

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Abele	4	12	0	0	36	15	4	10
Grice	2	8	0	0	24	1	0	4
Taylor	4	13	0	0	35	7	0	10
Sanders	4	15	1	3	34	5	4	11
Macfarlane	0	6	2	2	25	1	2	2
Nishimoto	1	1	3	3	4	0	0	5
Cariaga	0	0	0	2	4	0	0	0
Crouch	1	3	0	0	4	0	0	3
Spooner	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	0
Tambini	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0
Aiwohi	0	1	0	0	4	0	0	0
Lee	0	0	1	2	8	1	0	1
Toiaivao	3	6	2	4	16	3	1	8
Team						7
Totals	19	66	9	16	200	42	12	54

Louisiana Tech (10-4, 6-0 WAC)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Kursh	4	6	3	8	36	12	1	11
DeCiman	4	9	1	1	14	3	0	9
Barkus	1	7	5	8	31	2	2	7
Crain	6	11	0	0	34	6	6	12
Moore	4	12	3	3	33	6	2	11
Levingston	0	0	0	0	5	2	0	0
Ray-Boyd	2	7	3	4	18	3	0	9
Moore	3	6	2	3	24	6	0	8
Thompson	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	1
Lawson	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Team						10
Totals	24	58	18	29	200	50	11	68

Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.

Halftime -- Hawaii 34, Louisiana Tech 32.

3-point goals -- Hawaii 7-25 (Abele 2-5, Sanders 2-6, Taylor 2-6, Crouch 1-3, Aiwohi 0-1,Macfarlane 0-4), Louisiana Tech 2-9 (Ray-Boyd 2-4, Crain 0-1, S. Moore 0-2). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 20, Louisiana Tech 16. Fouled out -- Toiaivao. Technical fouls -- Hawaii 2 (Toiaivao 2), Louisiana Tech 1 (DeCiman).

Steals -- Hawaii 9 (Macfarlane 3, Sanders 2, Grice, Taylor, Toiaivao), Louisiana Tech 9 (Barkus 3, T. Moore 3, Crain 2, S. Moore). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 7 (Toiaivao 5, Grice 2), Louisiana Tech 6 (DeCiman 2, T. Moore 2, Kursh, S. Moore). Turnovers -- Hawaii 15 (Abele 4, Toiaivao 4, Sanders 2, Cariaga, Grice, Lee, Macfarlane, Taylor), Louisiana Tech 19 (Kursh 6, Crain 5, DeCiman 2, Ray-Boyd 2, Barkus, Lawson, Levingston, T. Moore). Officials -- Porter, Brow, van Nest. A -- 2,370.