Rainbow Wahine breeze past BYU-Hawaii
POSTED: Saturday, December 05, 2009
Back-to-back wins? A chance at a tournament title? The Hawaii women's basketball team struggled to remember the last time those happened.
Center Katie Wilson helped the Rainbow Wahine create memories of both with a career-high 17 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes as UH routed host Brigham Young-Hawaii 76-46 last night in the Hukilau Invitational in Laie.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore from Canada was the pit boss of an effective second Wahine unit. She shot 6-for-7, made all four of her free-throw attempts and discouraged the smaller Division II Seasiders from forays into the paint before a gathering of 151 at the Cannon Activities Center.
“;I think everyone on the team comes in with the mentality that we're hungry to play,”; said Wilson, who even stepped out for a corner 3-pointer. “;We want to win, and it doesn't matter if you're a starter or coming off the bench.”;
Dita Liepkalne added 16 points and six rebounds, Allie Patterson scored 10 and Keisha Kanekoa dished six assists. UH notched a 44-24 rebounding advantage and earned a chance to win the tourney title against BYU (4-2) today at 1 p.m. in Laie.
“;It's an exciting time for us,”; coach Dana Takahara-Dias said. “;But nonetheless, we're very happy with the contribution from all of our members on the team as we all saw considerable minutes.”;
UH (3-4) won consecutive games for the first time since February 2008 in shooting a season-best 55.1 percent from the field. It was also the first time the Wahine held back-to-back opponents to fewer than 50 points since February 2004, and the biggest UH margin of victory in more than two years. The Wahine defense also forced a season low in field-goal percentage (29.8) and points for the second straight game.
For once, a UH game on the road involved a (relatively) brief bus ride. The Wahine weren't fazed by having to wear their green visitors jerseys on their home island; they jumped on the D-II hosts right from the start. BYUH came away empty on 12 straight possessions over the first 8 minutes and faced an 18-3 hole the Seasiders (1-2) never scaled.
“;I think just the fact that one school's D-I and one school's D-II, (we) were not mentally prepared for that,”; BYUH coach Wendy Anae said. “;I think (we) were a little intimidated by the size of UH, and of course the speed. There shouldn't have been a deficit that early, and that big.”;
No Seasiders player scored in double figures. It was the first regular-season meeting between the teams since 1981; UH improved to 12-0 vs. BYUH.
HAWAII 76, BYU-HAWAII 46
RAINBOW WAHINE (3-4) | ||||||||
fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min | |
Liepkalne | 5-8 | 3-4 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
Arbuckle | 1-4 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
Bungaite | 4-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 28 |
Kanekoa | 2-2 | 3-4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 23 |
Dew | 2-5 | 3-4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
Linton | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
Wilson | 6-7 | 4-4 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Galdones | 2-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
Patterson | 4-5 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
Ayabe | 1-3 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
Gaddis | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
TEAM | 2 | |||||||
Totals | 27-49 | 16-22 | 44 | 17 | 76 | 18 | 21 | 200
|
SEASIDERS (1-2) | ||||||||
fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min | |
Fenenbock | 2-10 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
Gago | 4-15 | 1-1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 37 |
Tompkison | 2-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 31 |
Kite | 0-3 | 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Ika | 1-4 | 1-1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
Romito | 1-4 | 2-2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 21 |
Fakaosi | 3-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
Lawson | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Drew | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Hartley | 4-6 | 1-3 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
Sundin | 0-4 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
TEAM | 2 | |||||||
Totals | 17-57 | 9-12 | 24 | 18 | 46 | 13 | 17 | 200 |
Key— fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime— Hawaii 42, BYU-Hawaii 21
3-point goals— Hawaii 6-13 (Liepkalne 3-4, Wilson 1-1, Ayabe 1-1, Bungaite 1-3, Gaddis 0-1, Arbuckle 0-1, Galdones 0-2), BYUH 3-18 (Fenenbock 2-8, Tompkison 1-3, Gago 0-7). Steals— Hawaii 11 (Arbuckle 3, Dew 3, Kanekoa 2, Liepkalne, Bungaite, Galdones), BYUH 10 (Tompkison 5, Fenenbock 2, Romito, Fakaosi, Lawson). Blocked shots— Hawaii 3 (Arbuckle, Bungaite, Wilson). Officials— Tiki Kahoano, Ryan Sueoka, Lisa Mann. A— 151.