Wahine keep the pedal to the metal

Near the end of a college hoops season, strategy usually dictates that you give your players a light practice load for the final, grueling road trips.

"Usually" doesn’t apply this time for the Hawaii women’s basketball team.

Third-year coach Dana Takahara-Dias put her team through a series of leg-wearying sprints to start and finish their final practice before heading out on this week’s final Western Athletic Conference road trip to second-place Utah State and sixth-place Idaho.

There would be no rest and relaxation coming off an emotional 72-68 comeback win on senior night over Nevada last Saturday. On Monday, players slumped over, completely gassed as their coach addressed them in an elevated tone.

"This is a snapshot of the bigger picture that we’re trying to implement," Takahara-Dias said prior to the team’s Tuesday departure. "And this is just coaching them up, and having the ability to go beyond your limits and reach your potential. A prime example was today. Yeah we won, but we want to win some more."

The fourth-place Wahine can finish anywhere from third to sixth, depending on the results against the Aggies and Vandals. From there, it’s straight on to next week’s WAC tournament in Las Vegas.

It’s been tough to predict how UH will fare during any given week, with wins against teams in the top half of the standings and losses to those in the bottom half.

But UH got a big lift on senior night from sophomore shooting guard Kanisha Bello, who scored a career-high 19 points off the bench. Freshman point guard Alissa Campanero also chipped in a career-best 16 points to complement Kamilah Jackson’s 14th double-double of the season.

"We’re just heading into the WAC tournament and we have to play at the highest," Bello said. "(Coach) wanted to challenge us and see how much heart we had. Right now it’s toward the end of the season and we can’t improve anything as far as plays. It’s to see how far we can push ourselves."

Both Utah State (69-55) and Idaho (69-61) earned victories over UH at the Stan Sheriff Center in the first half of WAC play.

For Bello, the return to the Cowan Spectrum in Idaho’s Kibbie Dome could be special. She played there two seasons ago.

"I think it’s going to be great," she said. "I haven’t been there in over a year. So it will be a good reunion for me."

First, though, Takahara-Dias said she expected her players to be recharged and ready for the Utah State game. She fully expected ice baths to be necessary.

"We’re looking at the overall picture in trying to raise the expectations of our players to change the culture," the coach said. "And it doesn’t come overnight, and sometimes we need to be reminded going back to the basics that it’s tough what we do, it’s a privilege what we do, but we have much to respect about this game."