Wahine no match for Gaels of Iona

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This was one to wrap up, toss out and forget.

IONA    Hawaii 91 69 NEXT UP at Utah State, Jan. 9

Hawaii was dominated in all phases by Iona College (N.Y.) last night in the title game of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational, 91-69 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Iona -- which sports an enrollment of just over 3,000 -- put three players on the all-tournament team, including Anna McLean (20 points, 10 rebounds), Thazina Cook (11 points) and tournament MVP Lauren Defalco (13 points, seven assists, seven rebounds).

"Maybe this was good for us. We gotta get used to this," said coach Jim Bolla, referring to the Gaels' physicality and intimidation tactics

The Wahine play four straight Western Athletic Conference games on the road before opening at home against Boise State on Jan. 24.

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The enduring image Hawaii women's basketball fans will carry for more than three weeks -- the length of time until the Rainbow Wahine's next home game -- was one of easy layups, energetic play and dominating defense.

Sadly for the fans, that was what they saw of Iona College (N.Y.), not Hawaii.

Iona played a physically imposing game and hit nine 3-pointers to top Hawaii 91-69 in the championship game of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Gaels (7-6) had their way offensively and went on runs of 17-7 and 8-2 in the second half to secure the four-team-tournament title. It was the first time Hawaii (6-7) yielded 80 or more points this season, and the 22-point margin was its worst defeat of any game.

Beyond the number, the manner of the dominating defeat was what really stuck with coach Jim Bolla. He said the Gael players were laughing at his team after hitting easy layups and open 3-pointers.

"It's real simple -- it was a good, old fashioned okole-kicking," he said. "It started right at the beginning of the game. They got real physical with us, and we didn't respond to it."

Saundra Cariaga -- Hawaii's lone player on the all-tournament team -- scored 16 points, while Iwona Zagrobelna added 15 points and eight rebounds and Tanya Smith had a nice all-around game of 12 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

That was the good. On the other side, Keisha Kanekoa, Hawaii's dynamic playmaker, picked up her second foul 10 minutes into the game and was forced to watch the rest of the first half from the bench. She was a nonfactor with two points and three assists.

Starter Dita Liepkalne missed her third straight game with an injured knee, adding to the woes; bench production was almost nonexistent until garbage time, and the Gaels got 35 points to 16 from Hawaii from outside their starting fives.

It was often unsightly with or without Kanekoa, as the gathering of 307 saw at least seven shots fail to graze the rim during a cringe-inducing first half, and Iona jumped out to leads of 19-10 and 31-14. The Rainbow Wahine shot as low as 27 percent from the field, while Iona scored 49 points on 50 percent shooting in the first half. The Gaels jumped out by as many as 23 points before settling on a 19-point advantage going into the locker rooms.

"We came out really sloppy, and our warmup wasn't as strong as it normally (is)," Smith said. "Honestly, I don't think they're a better team than us; we just didn't play to our potential."

Zagrobelna cut it to 10 with 13 minutes left by grabbing a miss, getting the putback and free throw for an old-fashioned 3-point play.

That was as close as it would get. Tournament MVP Lauren Defalco hit a 3-pointer to counter on the ensuing possession and the threat was over.

"We couldn't capitalize off of it. We had passes thrown into the stands," Bolla said. "We weren't even close with executing what we wanted to execute."