UTEP routs
unprepared UH

Taylor's triple-double leads
the Miners to a 71-50 win over
the visiting Rainbow Wahine

Searching for back-to-back road victories for the first time in nearly two years, the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team instead found itself searching for jump shots.

Reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week Amy Sanders was the only UH player to score in double figures as the Wahine shot just 25 percent from the field in falling to UTEP 71-50 last night at El Paso, Texas.

Shalana Taylor recorded the first triple-double in Miners history with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists as UTEP (11-14, 6-9 WAC) pulled to within a half-game of the Wahine (10-11, 6-8) for seventh place in the conference. A win would have pushed Hawaii past Fresno State into sixth.

"We had an opportunity to make a statement and put ourselves in good positioning, but we just weren't ready to play," Wahine head coach Jim Bolla said. "It's not a secret; it's something we do all the time. We have had multiple chances to gain ground on some teams, but we haven't and those situations don't come around very often, so when they do, you have to take advantage of them."

Sanders led the Wahine with 13 points, but was just 3-for-10 from the field, which still was the highest shooting percentage -- along with Milia Macfarlane -- by any of the starting five.

"This wasn't a question of X's and O's," Bolla said. "I have no excuse for tonight, it was an old-fashioned butt-kicking. This team needs to be mentally ready to play every game, and tonight, they came out on senior night and took it to us."

A crowd of 1,950 watched as the Wahine managed to stay close in the first half, surviving a span of 11:49 in which two jumpers by Alofa Toiaivao were their only field goals, and trailed by just six at halftime.

A 3-pointer by Sanders cut the Miners' lead to just two at 37-35 early in the second half, but UTEP responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead back up to 11. The Wahine got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Marta Dydek celebrated her final home game in dominant fashion by scoring a game-high 22 points, including 18 in the first half for the Miners, who enjoyed a decisive 54-36 edge in rebounds. Along with Taylor's 11, Charnette Phelps added 10 boards to go along with 13 points.

"We didn't fight to get over the block out," Bolla said. "We gotta fight to get to the glass, especially when shots aren't falling. They'd just put a body on us and we'd stop going for the ball."

Time is beginning to run out on the Wahine's chances to move up in the standings before the WAC tournament. Hawaii returns home today to prepare for the final homestand next week when the Wahine host Tulsa on Thursday, and Rice on senior night Saturday.

UTEP 71, Hawaii 50

Rainbow Wahine (10-11, 6-8 Wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Abele	1	5	2	4	33	7	2	4
Sanders	3	10	5	7	36	8	1	13
Grice	2	7	2	6	23	3	1	6
Taylor	2	13	4	4	32	6	3	9
Macfarlane	3	10	0	1	29	2	3	7
Crouch	0	0	1	2	4	1	1	1
Smith	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0
Spooner	0	1	0	0	13	2	0	0
Aiwohi	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0
Lee	1	2	0	0	3	0	0	2
Toiaivao	3	9	2	2	21	3	0	8
TEAM						4
Totals	15	59	16	26	200	36	11	50
Miners (11-14, 6-9 WAC)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Phelps	5	9	3	3	24	10	1	13
McGee	2	9	6	8	38	7	3	11
Dydek	8	16	4	4	34	9	2	22
Taylor	5	7	0	2	40	11	10	12
Launiainen	0	1	0	0	6	0	1	0
Krezel	2	8	0	1	20	4	0	4
Piekarska	1	6	1	2	15	3	1	4
Rayos	0	1	0	0	3	1	0	0
Penno	1	3	2	4	19	0	1	5
Yancey	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
TEAM						9
Totals	24	60	16	24	200	54	19	71

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 -- UTEP 31, Hawaii 25.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 4-21 (Sanders 2-5, Macfarlane 1-5, Taylor 1-7, Aiwohi 0-1, Abele 0-3), UTEP 7-18 (Dydek 2-3, Taylor 2-4, Penno 1-1, McGee 1-2, Piekarska 1-3, Launiainen 0-1, Krezel 0-4). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 21, UTEP 24.
Steals -- Hawaii 8 (Macfarlane 3, Abele 2, Toiaivao 2, Taylor), UTEP 4 (McGee, Dydek, Krezel, Penno). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 4(Toiaivao 3, Grice), UTEP 7 (Dydek 5, Taylor, Piekarska). Turnovers -- Hawaii 11(Sanders 3, Toiaivao 3, Grice 2, Macfarlane 2, Abele), UTEP 14 (Taylor 4, Krezel 3, Phelps 2, Dydek 2, Penno 2, McGee). Officials -- Jump, Johnson, Norris. A -- 1,950.

WAC Standings

	WAC				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
Louisiana Tech	12	2	.857	--	16	6
Rice	10	4	.714	2	17	8
San Jose State	8	6	.571	4	15	9
SMU	8	6	.571	4	17	7
Tulsa	8	6	.571	4	16	8
Fresno State	7	8	.500	5 1/2	15	9
Hawaii	6	8	.428	6	10	11
UTEP	6	9	.400	6 1/2	11	14
Boise State	4	11	.267	8 1/2	9	15
Nevada	3	12	.200	9 1/2	7	18

Yesterday
UTEP 71, Hawaii 50
Louisiana Tech 77, SMU 63
Rice 89, Fresno St. 74
Tulsa 62, Nevada 57
Boise St. 67, San Jose St. 54