By DAVID MCGUIRT

djm028@latech.edu

 

Hawaii  women’s basketball got its first ever win over the Lady Techsters at the Thomas Assembly Center last Saturday as Cassidy Chretien hit two free throws with six seconds remaining to win the game, 60-59.

Tech (13-11, 8-3) came on strong in the first half, leading 16-9 with 14:02 on the clock. The lead was short lived, however, as Hawaii (11-12, 5-6) took the ball and ran on a 21-6 scoring run that put the Rainbow Wahine at a six-point advantage at the half, 34-28.

“It all boils down to being able to score,” Tech head coach Chris Long said. “You hold a team to 60 points and you feel like you should win, especially at home. Hawaii is the biggest team in this league and they force you to take tough shots a lot of times. They make you shoot over them and we just didn’t hit enough of them.”

Hawaii shot 50 percent from the field and made and four of six three pointers to help them take the lead at  the half.

Tech struggled from the field as Hawaii held the women to only a 34.4 percent night from the field.

The second half saw much more excitement, and heartbreak, as the Techsters and the Rainbow Wahine traded off the lead for the last minute of play after senior Shan Moore tied the score with a three-pointer at 55-55.

Hawaii controlled the first part of the second half, extending their lead to nine points on three occasions. The   Rainbow Wahine shot considerably worse overall in the second half, thanks to a tenacious Tech defense.  Hawaii hit only 25 percent of their shots from the field and only one of six three-pointers.

Hawaii’s saving grace came at the free-throw line, as the team was able to hit 11 of 16 free throws in the second half, and 65 percent of all shots from the free-throw line for the game.

The loss brought an end to a five-game winning streak and puts Tech two games behind Boise State in Western Athletic Conference standings for the top spot with five games remaining in the season.

The Techsters also played host to San Jose State last Thursday in a game that seemed lost until junior Nastassja Levingston and Shan Moore saved it in the final minutes.

“Both of them were a spark for us,” Long said. “We ran some plays to get (Levingston) some looks, and it paid off for us. Shan stepped up big like she has over the last few games and we needed her to.”

The team hit a mere six of 32 shots from the field and missed all eight three-pointers in the  first half, but sunk nine out of ten free throws to tie the Spartans at the half.

The Levingston-Moore duo scored every point in a 17-3 run that shot the Techsters to a 58-47 lead late in the second half. The run crippled the Spartans, who would only come within seven points for the rest of the game.

Moore had a career high of 31 points, besting her personal record from just a week before when she scored  27 points against Boise State. She also had  five steals, eight rebounds, and sunk 10 out of 13 free throws for a 77 percent average from the line.

Levingston also recorded a career high 13 points in the game and added a block and two assists.

The Techsters return to the court tonight in Las Cruces, N.M. at 8 p.m. against New Mexico State as they start their final stretch of conference games.