Ouch.

Fresno State crushed the Hawaii women's basketball team 83-42 in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams last night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The 41-point margin was the worst conference loss in UH history.

The Rainbow Wahine (6-8) were dismantled in all phases as the two-time conference champion Bulldogs (10-5) gave first-year UH coach Dana Takahara-Dias a rude welcome to league play.

The coach was impressed with FSU's execution, but grateful her team gets another shot at the Bulldogs in Honolulu next month.

“;I thought this was a really good education for our team,”; Takahara-Dias said in a phone interview. “;I really thought that if you want to become and emulate a solid basketball team, you need to face them. Tonight we faced a very confident, savvy, and smooth, well-oiled machine in Fresno. It was very difficult to make adjustments, because they threw many weapons at us.”;

Junior point guard Keisha Kanekoa led the Wahine with 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting, but she also had eight of her team's season-high 29 turnovers in UH's third-worst loss of the season.

Fresno hounded Hawaii relentlessly with pressure and collected 18 steals, including four by Jaleesa Ross to go along with her game-high 18 points. The Bulldogs shot 51.7 percent from the field, were 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) on 3-pointers, and assisted on 21 baskets.

The score was tied 9-9 less than 7 minutes into the game, but FSU outscored UH 33-10 heading into the half, then poured it on in the second period.

“;They took us out of sync with their press,”; Takahara-Dias said. “;We had a very difficult time getting good looks in the offensive set. But more impressive was their offense. When you shoot 46 percent from the 3-point line and 51 percent from the field, it's going to be a tough night overall. They were hurting us in many different ways.”;

It was the second straight season the Wahine opened WAC play at Fresno and their third loss on the road to start league play in as many years. FSU beat UH for the seventh straight time and has won 13 of the last 14 in the series.

UH heads to Las Cruces next to face New Mexico State on Saturday. The Aggies (11-4) won at Boise State, 87-83, in overtime in their league opener yesterday.

The Wahine's previous worst conference loss was by 40 points at San Diego State on Jan. 19, 1987.

WAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Yesterday
Utah State 69, Louisiana Tech 66
Fresno State 83, Hawaii 42
New Mexico State 87, Boise State 83
Nevada 64, San Jose State 56

FRESNO STATE 83, HAWAII 42

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 — FSU 42, Hawaii 19

3-point goals — Hawaii 2-7 (Kanekoa 1-1, Ayabe 1-1, Liepkalne 0-1, Galdones 0-1, Bungaite 0-1, Patterson 0-1, Gaddis 0-1), FSU 14-30 (Ross 4-5, Drennan 2-3, Moult 2-5, Munro 2-5, Arnold 1-2, Fears 1-2, Jones 1-3, Andrews 1-4, Filipe 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 5 (Arbuckle, Kanekoa, Linton, Wilson, Gaddis), FSU 18 (Moult 5, Ross 4, Filipe 3, Arnold 2, Edwards, Jones, Andrews, Drennan). Blocked shots — Hawaii none. FSU 1 (Filipe). Officials — Lisa Jones, Kent Johnson, Jim Morrell. A— 2,212.