TULSA, Okla.—Hawaii got its offense into flow and put in a record-setting defensive effort to rout Rice, 59-36, in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Friday at the Donald Reynolds Center. The Rainbow Wahine (23-6), winners of six straight, make their second straight championship game appearance and will face top-seed Louisiana Tech or fifth-seeded Tulsa Saturday at 1 p.m. CST.
UH allowed just 36 points a new WAC Tournament record. Rice made just 13 field goals for the game, and shot just 22 percent from the floor, a near-record for lowest shooting percentage. The Rainbow Wahine broke the game open with a 27-4 run spanning the last six minutes of the first half and the first six minutes of the second half.
Rice won the previous two meetings this season, in a pair of defensive battles. This time thought the Rainbow Wahine got its offense going.
"Today we jumped out to an early lead, which gave us confidence, and we stayed aggressive for the rest of the game," team captain Karena Greeny said.
UH finished the first half on a 17-2 run, including the final 13 points of the period, to take a 35-17 lead. UH limited the Owls (21-8) to just one basket in the final 6:34. Greeny and fellow senior Janka Gabrielova scored all but two of the points during the run. Rice shot just 20 percent (5-25) in the half and missed all eight of its 3-point attempts. UH, meanwhile, shot 42 percent in the first half.
Rice's poor shooting coupled with tough defense by Hawaii carried over into the second half. UH went on an 11-2 run to start the half , ledy by as many as 29 points and held Rice to just three points until 7:38 left in the game.
Greeny led a balanced attack with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Gabrielova had 11 points, four assists and four steals. Post play was also huge for the Wahine as Christen Roper scored eight of her 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. Johnetta Hayes led Rice with 14 points as no other player had more than six points for the game.
Last year UH lost to TCU, 66-58, in its first-ever tournament final appearance.
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