Wahine fall to Quakers
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii guard Briana Harris (4) and Pennsylvania guard Kasey Chambers (12) battle for a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA women’s basketball game between the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine and the Pennsylvania Quakers on Saturday, January 2, 2016 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
A late surge was nearly enough to overcome a dismal start for the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team.
But the Rainbow Wahine couldn’t get past one of the stingiest defenses in the country and closed nonconference play with a 64-54 loss to Pennsylvania in the second game of Saturday’s UH basketball doubleheader at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After the Rainbow Warriors completed a dominant win over Howard, the Wahine committed 10 turnovers in the game’s first 10 minutes and trailed by 18 late in the second quarter. The Quakers maintained a 14-point cushion with less than seven minutes left before UH chopped into the deficit and closed to within three when Destiny King drove in for a layup with two minutes left.
But UH (7-6) missed its next nine shots from the field and the Quakers (9-2) extended the lead from the free-throw line to complete a sweep of their two-game stay on Oahu.
“We did not show up to play basketball the first half and you don’t beat a very disciplined, very intelligent, confident team that has all the pieces showing up and playing maybe 11⁄2, 2 quarters,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “So we dug ourselves a big hole and we could not get out of it.”
Penn forward Michelle Nwokedi scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half and finished with 15 rebounds and guards Anna Ross and Beth Brzozowski contributed 15 points each for the Quakers, who also defeated BYU-Hawaii on Thursday.
UH center Connie Morris led the Wahine with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and had eight rebounds and six blocks.
“If there was a bright spot it was Connie’s play tonight,” Beeman said. “She played against two very good post players.”
King finished with 10 points and Briana Harris added eight points and eight rebounds and helped spark the fourth-quarter comeback.
“I think what we did in the fourth quarter should have been what we did the whole game from beginning to end and that didn’t happen,” King said.
Coming off three road wins, the Wahine appeared out of sorts early in their first regular-season home game since Nov. 29. They’ll head back to California this week and open Big West play at Long Beach State on Thursday.
Penn entered the game seventh in the country in scoring defense, allowing 49.9 points per game, and the Wahine struggled to get looks at the basket due to 10 first-quarter turnovers.
When they did get into their offense, they made seven of 24 shots from the field in the first half and trailed 33-18 at halftime. Morris provided the bulk of UH’s offense with eight points.
UH trailed 19-15 when Harris drove in for a layup with 6:23 left in the second quarter. But Penn broke away with a 14-0 run until UH guard Marissa Wimbley hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
UH committed just six turnovers after the first quarter but couldn’t make up much ground until a 13-2 run that cut Penn’s lead to 56-53, capped by King’s drive with two minutes left.
The Wahine defense provided opportunities to close further, but the shots stopped falling and Penn managed to pull away.
“I thought we had good control the first eight or nine minutes and an opportunity to separate, but we didn’t,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said.
“Then we started making some shots, and then the foul shooting helped. Something we’ve been working on a lot.”
15 responses to “Wahine fall to Quakers”
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Watched the first half and went to bed. Team was sloppy on a night that they probably could get more fans since there was alot of them for the men game, but i think they blew it by the way they played.They can’t play like that in conference and expect to repeat as champions.
Played scare, to’s, inefficient made magics disappeared!
With all the height, reinforcement yet, TEAM going toward regression???
Play the players who want to play, play as a team. Imho, less “me”, and all about playing your best when you step out on the court, as a team.
Not moving their feet, etc., like they need to?
Terrible first half by the Wahine, they sure do miss Shauna.
Agree. They don’t have anyone right now at Kuehu’s level. I thought Karaitiana would be the person but not. Their road wins were close wins and that might not be enough starting Thursday’s opener.
Hope Coach Beeman and staff make the team belive that they are better and start playing like they can.
Where’s all the posters DEMANDING the coach be retained at all cost when she was in the running for the Utah job? Look, I really like Beeman as our head coach but the reality is that NO head coach of money losing sports programs at UH should be paid top or near the top in the conference – not her, not Coolan, and certainly not Traps. If anything, Rolo and Ganot getting $100k less than their predecessors are the real travesties.
ONE player from a Hawaii high school on the squad. ALL the rest from mainland. Same with Men’s basketball, come to think of it. Why is Hawaii money being invested in these teams?
Maybe because Hawaii basketball players are not good enough?
On an off-shooting night a good defense would have kept them in the game; unfortunately, Connie Morris was the only one who came ready to play. Konawaena’s Chanelle Molina backed out of her “commitment” but unsure if any other local prospect was offered. Rural girls often don’t get along with mainland girls, so Beeman should keep the door open for Molina.
Love the Wahine, but their ballhandling and passing (AND subsequent turnovers) are simply horrible. Dont understand why Beeman hasnt corrected this, its nothing new. Work um in practice till their fingers bleed!
Would be awesome if Molina came to UH
I thought Molina already signed with Washington State?
There was an article in the Star-Advertiser which stated that all three Molina sisters have signed with Washington State University following Dawnyelle Awa and Lia Galdeira who also signed with WSU. However, Galdeira left early for a professional career in Europe. All four attended or attend Konawaena HS so that was a probably big factor in the signing of the four.
I am a wahine bb fan but I got to admit that first half was torture to watch. Continue to work hard the season is far from over. GO BOWS!