Wahine finish tournament winless
POSTED: Monday, January 05, 2009
On the bright side, the Hawaii women's basketball team's slate is clean.
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The Rainbow Wahine get a much-needed fresh start for Western Athletic Conference play after taking a 67-55 beating from Colorado in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A gathering of 193 saw the Big 12 Buffaloes (8-4) jump out to a 17-2 lead and outscore UH 31-11 over the bulk of the second half after the Wahine (3-10) tied things at 36 coming out of halftime.
Colorado won the three-team tournament and Buffs forward Brittany Spears took MVP honors. Hawaii, which lost to Pepperdine on Friday, finished last.
CU's Bianca Smith scored 15 of her 23 points in the first 8 minutes and finished 8-for-10 overall and 6-for-7 on 3-pointers. Spears added 14 points and Kara Richards 12 on 6-for-8 shooting.
Guard Catherine Cho was the only effective Hawaii starter, with a career-high 15 points and four assists. She was picked to the all-tournament team. The other four starters—Tara Hittle, Dita Liepkalne, Ebony Jones and Megan Tinnin—combined for five points.
“;Once that buzzer went off, it's definitely frustrating, but at the same time you gotta stick your head up and remember this is our last pre-(WAC) game,”; said Cho, who watched film on her own to help rebound from a nine-turnover game against Pepperdine. “;Our record's not as good as we want it to be, but especially with so many young players on our team we've learned what we need to learn so far.”;
The starting unit's ineffectiveness prompted Hawaii coach Jim Bolla to reach deep into his bench. He sent a message by sending in 12 players: Playing minutes are officially up for grabs.
“;People who are fading away when the ball's going up, they're not going to play,”; Bolla said. “;We're going to start playing the way we need to play. Thirty-five points from our bench, and just 20 from our starters, that's not going to win you a lot of games.”;
The reserves gambit—led by freshman Breanna Arbuckle—worked in helping the Wahine claw back from a 15-point deficit to within six points at halftime. Arbuckle finished with 12 points and Briauna Linton had nine points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes.
The Wahine's two biggest problems this season, turnovers and rebounding, were non-factors against the Buffs for most of the game.
CU assisted on 19 baskets and shot 46.2 percent, compared to 30.9 for Hawaii (25 percent in the second half). Though UH grabbed 15 offensive rebounds in the second half, CU's efficiency was gradually too much to overcome.
UH went on a 8-0 run in the final 2 minutes, but by then it was too late.
The Wahine were without point guard Keisha Kanekoa (sprained ankle) for the third straight game and center Sarah Ilic, who injured her leg.
Colorado 67, Hawaii 55
Buffalos (8-4)
| fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min |
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| Spears | 5-13 | 3-4 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 37 |
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| Richards | 6-8 | 0-0 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 24 |
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| Fressle | 1-10 | 3-4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 38 |
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| Smith | 8-10 | 1-3 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 31 |
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| Blythe | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
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| Skildum | 1-3 | 4-4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
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| Seabrook | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
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| Dale | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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| Piterniece | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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| Mullaney | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 22 |
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| Dunn | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
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| Team | 1 | ||||||||
| Totals | 24-52 | 11-16 | 32 | 24 | 67 | 19 | 13 | 200 |
Rainbow Wahine (3-10)
| fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min |
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| Hittle | 0-5 | 1-4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 30 |
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| Liepkalne | 0-5 | 2-2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 26 |
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| Jones | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
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| Cho | 4-9 | 4-4 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 37 |
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| Tinnin | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
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| Linton | 3-8 | 3-4 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
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| Hamilton | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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| Wilson | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
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| Arbuckle | 4-10 | 4-7 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 28 |
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| Galdones | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
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| Patterson | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
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| Dew | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
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| Team | 5 |
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| Totals | 17-55 | 16-25 | 38 | 18 | 55 | 12 | 16 | 200 |
Key—fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime—Colorado 36, Hawaii 29.
3-point goals—Colorado 8-18(Smith 6-7, Spears 1-3, Dunn, 1-2, Fressle 0-3, Blythe 0-1, Skildum 0-1, Mullaney 0-1), Hawaii 5-16 (Cho 3-6, Galdones 2-4, Liepkalne 0-3, Tinnin 0-1, Hamilton 0-1, Arbuckle 0-1). Steals—Colorado 8 (Smith 3, Spears 2, Fressle, Mullaney, Dunn), Hawaii 4 (Hittle 2, Linton, Arbuckle). Blocked shots—Colorado 9 (Spears 4, Richards, Fressle, Smith, Seabrook, Dunn), Hawaii 1 (Arbuckle).
Officials—Carla Fujimoto, Todd Apo, Mike Ishikawa. Attendance—193.
