A dismal first half cost the Hawaii women’s basketball team a chance to score a big road win in the final week of the Western Athletic Conference regular season.
After building a huge cushion, Utah State shot 52.7 percent and coasted to an 85-64 win over the Rainbow Wahine on Thursday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
Kamilah Jackson’s 15th double-double of the season — 17 points and 11 rebounds — and a team-high 18 points from Breanna Arbuckle were not enough to keep the fourth-place Wahine (11-17, 6-7 WAC) in it. Arbuckle had six of UH’s 20 turnovers.
Meanwhile, second-place Utah State (19-8, 10-3) had 27 assists against 10 turnovers, and made all 19 of its free-throw attempts.
UH never recovered after trailing 19-5 and shooting 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) in the first half. The Wahine faced a 17-point halftime deficit.
"We feel badly about the total performance," UH coach Dana Takahara-Dias said in a postgame phone interview. "We are still very much excited about finishing strong in the WAC, going to Idaho and playing our game."
With a win at sixth-place Idaho (10-19, 5-8) on Saturday, UH would play San Jose State as the fourth or fifth seed in the first round of the WAC tournament next week.
With a loss to the Vandals, UH would drop to sixth and face third-place Louisiana Tech.
The Idaho game might be a rare instance where UH would benefit more from a loss than a win. The Wahine won both of their games against LaTech this season, and lost both against San Jose State.
On the other hand, playing well, period, at this stage might be paramount.
UH allowed several Aggies to go off, including guard Devyn Christenson (23 points, 5-for-10 on 3s), forward Ashlee Brown (21 points, 10 assists) and guard Brooke Jackson (19 points, 7-for-9 shooting).
Despite that, the Wahine got it down to 11 at the midpoint of the second half. That was as close as it got.
"Good teams will do that to you," Takahara-Dias said. "They will shut you down and (you) do not have the ability to make a run. But it was encouraging that we were able to play a closer second half."
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WAC STANDINGS
| |
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| Fresno State |
12 |
1 |
.923 |
— |
24 |
5 |
| Utah State |
10 |
3 |
.769 |
2 |
19 |
8 |
| Louisiana Tech |
8 |
5 |
.615 |
4 |
15 |
13 |
| Hawaii |
6 |
7 |
.462 |
6 |
11 |
17 |
| San Jose State |
6 |
7 |
.462 |
6 |
11 |
17 |
| Idaho |
5 |
8 |
.385 |
7 |
10 |
19 |
| New Mexico State |
3 |
10 |
.231 |
9 |
6 |
22 |
| Nevada |
2 |
11 |
.154 |
10 |
6 |
22 |
Thursday
Utah State 85, Hawaii 64
Nevada 68, New Mexico State 56
Idaho 70, San Jose State 65
Fresno State 65, Louisiana Tech 62
Saturday
Hawaii at Idaho, noon
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
New Mexico State at Fresno State
San Jose State at Utah State
UTAH STATE 85, HAWAII 64
Rainbow Wahine (11-17, 6-7 WAC)
| |
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min |
| Haydel |
0-4 |
4-4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
23 |
| Tagalicod |
5-13 |
1-1 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
34 |
| Arbuckle |
7-12 |
4-5 |
3 |
3 |
18 |
2 |
6 |
38 |
| Campanero |
3-7 |
0-0 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
35 |
| Adolpho |
1-4 |
0-0 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
14 |
| Jackson |
7-11 |
2-3 |
11 |
3 |
17 |
1 |
1 |
29 |
| Gaddis |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
| Bello |
1-3 |
0-0 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
| TEAM |
|
|
4 |
|
|
|
1 |
| Totals |
24-54 |
11-13 |
30 |
17 |
64 |
14 |
20 |
200 |
Aggies (19-8, 10-3 WAC)
| |
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min |
| Nelson |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
14 |
| Jackson |
7-9 |
2-2 |
3 |
3 |
19 |
4 |
3 |
30 |
| Christensen |
6-13 |
6-6 |
2 |
1 |
23 |
2 |
1 |
36 |
| Johnson |
3-3 |
0-0 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
28 |
| Brown |
7-16 |
7-7 |
7 |
3 |
21 |
10 |
0 |
33 |
| Schlott |
1-5 |
4-4 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
23 |
| Furtado |
0-1 |
0-0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
| Vaaulu |
4-5 |
0-0 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
20 |
| Diop |
1-2 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
| Grooms |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
| Mays |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| TEAM |
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
1 |
| Totals |
29-55 |
19-19 |
28 |
15 |
85 |
27 |
10 |
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 — Utah State 40, Hawaii 23
3-points goals — Hawaii 5-12 (Campanero 2-5, Tagalicod 1-1, Jackson 1-1, Bello 1-2, Adolpho 0-1, Haydel 0-2). Utah State 8-17 (Christensen 5-10, Jackson 3-5, Schlott 0-1, Furtado 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 5 (Arbuckle 3, Tagalicod, Campanero). Utah State 12 (Christensen 3, Johnson 2, Schlott 2, Vaaulu 2, Nelson, Jackson, Brown). Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Arbuckle, Adolpho). Utah State 3 (Brown 2, Vaaulu). Officials — Eric Larson, Julie Krommenhoek, Bobby Jarmon. A — 532.
