Box Score
HONOLULU—The University of Hawaii Wahine basketball team gave Stanford all they could handle before falling to the No. 8 Cardinal, 71-60, in the semifinals of the Panda Travel Rainbow Wahine Classic Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Wahine overcame a 19-point deficit in the first half and took the lead but Stanford pulled away in the second half with a late surge.
It was Hawai'i's (3-1) first loss of the season and first loss at home in 11 games.
Stanford (4-0) advanced to Sunday's Classic championship where they will face No. 23 Penn State at 6 p.m. The Lady Lions (3-1) defeated Oklahoma State, 73-54, in the other semifinal.
The Wahine will play the Cowgirls (3-2) in the third place game at 3:50 p.m.
Stanford came out smoking hitting eight of its first nine shots of the game to take a double-digit lead less than five minutes in. The Cardinal led 28-9 seven minutes in, but UH rallied and scored 19 unanswered points to tie the game. The Cardinal, who hit their first four 3-pointers, missed on their next nine long-range attempts in the half, and went scoreless for more than ten minutes. Lindsey Yamasaki's pull-up jumper with 2:56 broke the scoreless streak. UH took a brief 32-30 lead on pair of April Atuaia free throws, but the Cardinal regained a 36-32 lead at the break.
The game remained close throughout the second until Stanford went on an 11-0 run with less than ten minutes left to break a 50-50 tie. The Cardinal rediscovered their outside touch as Lauren St. Clair and Kelley Suminski hit consecutive 3-pointers to spur the game-sealing run.
Christen Roper led UH with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Natasja Allen and Janka Gabrielova chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Yamasaki led Stanford with 14 points, while Nicole Powell added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
In earlier action Weber State defeated Florida Atlantic, 85-63, and Minnesota beat Wyoming, 92-66. Weber State will play Minnesota for fifth place at 1:40 p.m., while Wyoming and Florida Atlantic will vie for seventh place at 11:30 a.m.
