March 7, 2008

Box Score

HONOLULU - Keisha Kanekoa scored 24 points to lead Hawaii to an 84-77 win over Louisiana Tech Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Tech head coach Chris Long knew his team was in for a battle, but he didn't realize it would have to play the majority of the game without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Jo Sneed.

Sneed, who was averaging 19.2 points and 10.9 rebounds a game in WAC contests, was ejected from the game with 2:54 to play in the first half after the officials ruled the senior forward had thrown a punch.

Without Sneed, who had 12 points and nine rebounds before being ejected, Tech (14-14, 8-7 WAC) didn't have enough fire power to overcome the Rainbow Wahine (12-16, 6-9).

"Jo is a tough kid," Long said. "I've never seen her react like that. I felt like she got fouled on the play, and she was frustrated. Jo has to keep her cool, but I felt like the officials let the game get out of hand and it led to her frustration."

Tech was trailing 30-24 when Sneed was ejected from the contest. However, the Lady Techsters wouldn't go quietly despite the challenge.

The Lady Techsters would use a 7-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to cut the deficit to 32-31. However, Kanekoa nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Rainbow Wahine a 35-31 halftime lead.

"I hate it for our team," Long said. "To lose your best player in the middle of a game is tough. I thought we had some players step up and get after it. We just didn't get enough stops. I give Hawaii credit. They played unbelievably well."

Tech used a full-court press for the majority of the second half in an effort to force the pace and hopefully create some easy scores off of turnovers.

Much of the revised game plan worked as Tech forced 24 turnovers by the Rainbow Wahine which led to 22 Lady Techster points.

After Hawaii had pushed its halftime lead out to 52-38 on a jumper by Kanekoa at the 14:17 mark of the second half, Tech stormed back behind the play of Shanavia Dowdell and guards Tiawana Pringle and Sidney Stewart.

Tech cut the Hawaii deficit down to 73-70 on a fast break layup by Pringle at the 2:43 mark of the game, but Hawaii answered on its next possession as Saundra Cariaga drained a three-pointer.

The Lady Techsters would be unable to get any closer than four points.

"We did a great job of fighting to get back into the game," Long said. "The kids never gave up. We cut it to one possession and then, boom, Cariaga hits a big three for them.

"I thought we hustled but you can't get behind like we did. I didn't feel like we came out of the gates strong enough and then to lose Sneed was a lot to overcome."

Dowdell led Tech with 19 points, while Pringle added 13 points. Sneed and Stewart added 12 points.

Tech returns to action Saturday at 9 p.m. against San Jose State.