Wahine out of WAC tournament

The UH women lose their WAC tournament opener for the third consecutive season

RENO, Nev. » Another year, another early trip home for the Hawaii women's basketball team.

For the third straight season, the Rainbow Wahine couldn't get past their first game in the Western Athletic Conference tournament. And for the second time it was Boise State that sent UH packing.

BOISE ST. - 72 HAWAII - 63 NEXT UP - WNIT or season over

The Wahine couldn't sustain a hot start and Boise State battled back from a 13-point first-half deficit to earn a 72-63 victory yesterday in the WAC tournament quarterfinals at the Lawlor Events Center.

UH fell to 18-10 and will have to wait until Monday to find out whether its regular-season performance was enough to warrant a call from the Women's NIT.

Boise State (15-14), the sixth seed, advanced to tomorrow's semifinal round to face No. 7 New Mexico State, which stunned second-seeded Fresno State in yesterday's second game.

After winning seven of its last nine regular-season games to finish third in the standings, UH stumbled in their final two contests, losing at Louisiana Tech 91-52 last Saturday and again to BSU yesterday.

"It's frustrating, especially for our seniors," Hawaii coach Jim Bolla said. "They've experienced one decent season in the tournament since they've been here. You hate to see something happen like this, the way we played at Tech and then coming to play here. You just hate that for your seniors going out.

"It's just sad when you end your season with two (losses). Both of them were devastating in their own way."

Three UH seniors -- Amy Sanders, Brittney Aiwohi and Callie Spooner -- were the only UH players to experience a win in the WAC tournament. They were freshmen on the 2003 team that reached the semifinals.

UH was eliminated in the tournament play-in game the next two years, losing to Boise State in 2004 and Nevada last year.

Yesterday's loss might have been the most frustrating of the bunch.

Hawaii nailed seven 3-pointers in the first half, four coming in a scorching 2-minute stretch in which Dalia Solia drilled three in a row from behind the arc and Janevia Taylor added another.

Taylor's third trey of the half gave UH a 31-18 lead with 9:33 left in the period.

But the Wahine could get few shots to fall after that point and the Broncos outscored UH 25-6 over the next 14 minutes to take control of the game.

BSU closed to within 35-30 at halftime and began the second with a 13-2 run.

"I told the team there's no way they're going to shoot like that the whole game and to keep their poise," said first-year BSU coach Gordy Presnell.

UH, meanwhile, had just one field goal in the first 12:30 of the second half. The Wahine ended up shooting 8-for-24 after halftime, going 1-for-9 from 3-point range.

"They played good defense in the second half, but we were also off," Sanders said. "The shots we were making in the first half just weren't falling."

BSU forward Michelle Hessing spurred the Broncos to the comeback, scoring 15 of her game-high 17 points after halftime, most coming off strong moves in the post.

At one stretch, Hessing scored 11 straight points for the Broncos as BSU outscored UH in the paint 32-18.

"That first half was probably the best half that we've shot the ball all year," Bolla said of UH's 3-point barrage. "We really can't live off our outside shooting; we have to be balanced.

"We didn't really go inside, and when we did get the ball inside, our post players were passing it back out a lot of the time."

BSU also outrebounded the Wahine 44-36, grabbing 15 offensive boards to UH's seven.

The Broncos got three putbacks in the opening moments of the second half to shift the momentum their way.

"They really set the tone right in the first couple of plays," Bolla said.

Solia shot 6-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-8 on 3-pointers, to lead UH with 16 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots.

Taylor finished with 15 points and six assists, while Sanders had 13 points and eight boards.

Hessing led four Broncos in double figures. Rebecca Kepilino posted 12 points and 12 rebounds. Guard Benita Buggs had 11 points and Jackie Lee added 10 points and seven assists.

"Give a lot of credit to Boise State," Bolla said. "They played extremely well, very tough, never gave up."

Bolla said earlier in the week that WNIT officials had been in contact with the school. But said he doesn't know whether the Wahine will have another game this season.

UH entered the tournament ranked 96th in the Ratings Percentage Index. After the NCAA announces its field of 64 on Monday, the WNIT will fill out its 40-team pool.

"We can't control anything like that," Bolla said. "A lot is going to depend on what happens with our RPI number and what happens with other teams."

Boise State 72, Hawaii 63

BRONCOS (15-14)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Buggs	5	12	0	0	17	3	2	11
Lee	4	11	1	1	36	8	7	10
Hessing	6	10	5	10	23	10	0	17
Kepilino	4	10	4	6	36	12	1	12
Thompson, Ja.	1	2	1	2	12	2	0	3
Thompson, Je.	3	10	2	3	24	2	3	8
Galassi	1	2	0	0	6	0	0	3
Begay	2	7	1	2	29	1	3	6
Little	1	2	0	0	17	1	1	2
TEAM						5
Totals	27	66	14	24	200	44	17	72

RAINBOW WAHINE (18-10)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Taylor	5	14	2	4	40	6	6	15
Kotani	1	1	0	0	4	1	0	3
Sanders	3	11	7	8	39	8	2	13
Smith	2	5	0	2	22	1	2	4
Tambini	2	7	2	6	27	5	2	6
Solia	6	10	0	0	37	8	1	16
Spooner	0	1	0	0	15	2	2	0
Aiwohi	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Grice	2	4	2	4	14	2	0	6
TEAM						3
Totals	21	53	13	24	200	36	15	63

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 35, Boise State 30

3-point goals -- BSU 4-13 (Galassi 1-1, Buggs 1-2, Lee 1-4, Begay 1-4, Thompson, Je. 0-2), Hawaii 8-24 (Solia 4-8, Taylor 3-8, Kotani 1-1, Tambini 0-1, Spooner 0-1, Sanders 0-5). Personal fouls -- BSU 19, Hawaii 20. Fouled out--Smith, Grice.

Steals -- BSU 9 (Hessing 4, Kepilino 2, Buggs, Thompson, Ja., Little), Hawaii 5 (Sanders 3, Tambini 2). Blocked shots -- BSU 0, Hawaii 5 (Solia 3, Smith, Tambini). Turnovers -- BSU 10 (Begay 3, Little 2, Thompson, Je., Buggs, Lee, Hessing, Kepilino), Hawaii 15 (Taylor 4, Sanders 4, Tambini 2, Solia 2, Smith, Aiwohi, Grice). Officials -- Fujimoto, Larson, Cantoja. A -- N/A.