Abele hits 1,000-point
mark as Wahine shut
down Broncos

It wasn't the prettiest of victories, but the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team -- especially Jade Abele -- had a grand time in Boise, Idaho, last night.

Abele joined the program's 1,000-point scoring club, and hit two key 3-pointers among her team-high 13 points as the Wahine (10-10, 6-7 Western Athletic Conference) beat Boise State 51-41.

A gathering of 534 at the Taco Bell Arena saw the Broncos (8-15, 3-11 WAC) come back from a 28-13 halftime deficit to score the first 13 points of the second half, only to fade down the stretch.

Abele's trey with about 8:30 left helped the Wahine regain command at 40-32. It also made her the 14th player in the program's history to score in quadruple figures for her career.

"I didn't know about it until Mils (guard Milia Macfarlane) told me in warm-ups I needed six points," Abele said. "I told her she's stupid, I must need 600 or something."

Janevia Taylor added 10 points for UH, which survived an uneven performance that included 19 turnovers and 32 percent shooting from the floor. Fortunately for Hawaii, Boise State wasn't consistent or efficient either, making four of 23 shots in the first half (17 percent) and committing 18 turnovers.

Wahine coach Jim Bolla said he'll take it -- especially on the road, especially at this point in the season. As the close of the conference campaign approaches, positioning becomes more important. Seventh place is much better than ninth right now.

"This was a real important win because we're at a crucial part of our schedule. When we beat LaTech and lost to SMU we got derailed, but this gets us back on track. We still control where we will be in the WAC tournament," Bolla said. "It was an important confidence-builder for the kids to win on the road. Jade stepped up at a crucial time with two 3s and broke their back. It was an ugly win, but a win. It gives us momentum for UTEP (tomorrow at El Paso)."

UH went on a 20-2 run to take a 15-point lead at halftime. Macfarlane and Amy Sanders scored six points each to lead the spree.

But Cassidy Blaine shot the Broncos back into it. She had a game-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Her second trey of the second half closed it to 28-26 with 13:10 left in the game -- and UH hadn't scored after the break.

BSU never caught the Wahine, though. Abele's final trey made it 48-40 at 3:30, and sealed UH's second road win of the year.

"We cut back on those turnovers. We had eight in the first half and it hurt us at the start of the game. We settled down and ran our stuff in the second half," said Abele, who was game-high with eight rebounds. "Last year we really struggled on the road. These next four games are crucial. We really want to have a good run heading into the tournament."

Hawaii 51, Boise State 41

Wahine (10-10, 6-7 wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Abele	4	8	2	5	38	8	4	13
Grice	0	0	0	0	16	2	1	0
Taylor	4	11	1	1	39	5	1	10
Sanders	4	14	0	0	35	2	1	8
Macfarlane	2	6	0	0	38	1	1	6
Cariaga	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0
Spooner	2	3	2	3	15	6	3	6
Toiaivao	3	5	2	3	15	6	1	8
TEAM						4
Totals	19	47	7	12	200	34	13	51
Broncos (8-15, 3-11 wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Blaine	7	14	0	0	36	3	3	19
Hawkins	4	10	0	0	25	6	0	8
Hessing	1	5	1	3	22	5	0	3
Harris	2	10	2	4	32	7	2	6
Nakashima	1	7	0	0	31	3	3	2
Paiz	0	0	0	0	8	2	0	0
Ramirez	0	1	0	0	7	0	0	0
Lee	0	2	1	2	17	2	1	1
Buggs	0	1	2	2	9	2	0	2
Little	0	2	0	0	13	0	0	0
TEAM						4
Totals	15	52	6	11	200	34	9	41

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 28, Boise State 13.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 6-19 (Abele 3-6, Macfarlane 2-4, Taylor 1-5, Sanders 0-4), BSU 5-17 (Blaine 5-9, Ramirez 0-1, Lee 0-1, Harris 0-2, Nakashima 0-4). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 16, BSU 18. Fouled out -- Grice, Toiaivao, Hessing.
Steals -- Hawaii 3 (Abele, Macfarlane, Toiaivao), BSU 7 (Hawkins, Hessing, Harris, Nakashima, Paiz, Lee, Little). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 4 (Toiaivao 2, Abele, Grice), BSU 1 (Blaine). Turnovers -- Hawaii 19 (Abele 4, Toiaivao 4, Sanders 3, Macfarlane 3, Grice 2, Taylor 2, Cariaga), BSU 18 (Blaine 4, Little 4, Hessing 3, Harris 3, Lee 3, Nakashima). Officials -- Schmidt, Weeks, Westlake. A -- 534.

WAC standings

	WAC				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
Louisiana Tech	11	2	.846	--	15	6
Rice	9	4	.692	2	16	8
San Jose State	8	5	.615	3	15	8
SMU	8	5	.615	3	17	6
Tulsa	7	6	.538	4	15	8
Fresno State	7	7	.500	4 1/2	15	8
Hawaii	6	7	.462	5	10	10
UTEP	5	9	.357	6 1/2	10	14
Boise State	3	11	.214	8 1/2	8	15
Nevada	3	11	.214	8 1/2	7	17

Yesterday
Hawaii 51, Boise State 41
Tulsa 81, Fresno St. 69
UTEP 66, San Jose St. 63
Rice 75, Nevada 49
Tomorrow
Hawaii at UTEP
Nevada at Tulsa
San Jose State at Boise State
Fresno State at Rice
SMU at Louisiana Tech