Free throws help Wahine hold off Alcorn [Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)]

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All that practice from 15 feet paid off for Breanna Arbuckle.

Every point at the free-throw line mattered as Hawaii edged out Alcorn State 66-63 behind Arbuckle's 13-for-15 effort from the stripe, including the go-ahead pair, on the first night of the Pepsi Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Wednesday.

UH (5-8) continues the tournament today against Florida Gulf Coast (8-2) at 6 p.m., preceding the UH men's basketball game against South Carolina State.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 551 saw the Braves battle for a 7-0 run and 60-57 lead with 4:20 to play, but the Wahine avoided a meltdown at the line similar to their loss to UC Davis before Christmas.

UH rallied to tie it at 61 on a take by sophomore wing Vicky Tagalicod with 3:23 left, and when Alcorn went up for the last time at 63-62 with 1:41 to play, Arbuckle drew a foul and was ready to deliver. Arbuckle, a career 50.7 percent free-throw shooter entering the night, was calm and collected in setting career highs in attempts and makes. She dropped in the last of her game-high 17 points with 1:17 left.

"We've been practicing free throws. We want to get better at the free-throw line because it's going to help us," said Arbuckle, who added five assists and three blocks. "We are going to take the ball to the basket more. If the outside's not working, we're just going to push the ball inside."

UH sophomore guard Kanisha Bello hit all six of her shots from the line - including an insurance pair with 13.8 seconds left - for 13 points and Tagalicod added 14 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Kamilah Jackson had her streak of five double-doubles snapped with nine points and 10 boards.

Alcorn State (2-8) had a contested 3 to tie it at the buzzer, but Breanna Whitfield's shot hit the back iron and the Wahine won for the third time in four games.

"We came together as a team and didn't let them break us," Tagalicod said. "We knew we could trust (Arbuckle) to hit the free throws, her and 'Nish."

Many of the UH players spent a five-day holiday break and this week's practices focusing on their free throws.

"I'd probably say I just relaxed more, just didn't really focus on anything else except for free throws," Arbuckle said.

The Wahine were rewarded by converting a serviceable 25 of 33 (75.8 percent), eight points above the team's 67.9 percent average going in. It made up for UH's usual complement of 20 turnovers.

"Talk about deja vu and having an opportunity to redeem ourselves from last week's tough loss," UH coach Dana Takahara-Dias said. "I thought we did a wonderful job getting to the line, but most importantly capitalizing on those opportunities. ... This is a huge improvement."

In the first game of the tournament, North Carolina State defeated Florida Gulf Coast 69-64.

HAWAII 66, ALCORN STATE 63

LADY BRAVES (2-8)

fg-a ft-a rb pf pts a to min

Richmond 1-8 1-2 2 2 4 2 2 21

Ruffin 7-18 0-1 3 4 17 6 3 36

Andrews 2-7 0-3 9 2 4 1 1 19

Frost 0-3 1-2 1 2 1 1 1 15

Breedlove 5-6 0-0 3 4 10 0 2 22

Crumbly 5-15 0-0 1 4 12 2 3 27

Whitfield 3-7 1-2 4 3 10 0 1 21

Ambrose 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Tuset 1-3 0-0 2 1 2 0 0 9

Stewart 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 1 0 15

Reid 1-4 1-1 9 2 3 0 2 14

TEAM 4

Totals 25-73 4-11 39 25 63 13 15 200

RAINBOW WAHINE (5-8)

fg-a ft-a rb pf pts a to min

Jackson 4-10 1-4 10 1 9 1 2 27

Arbuckle 2-5 13-15 6 2 17 5 3 32

Campanero 1-5 3-3 1 1 5 6 6 38

Bello 3-6 6-6 6 1 13 1 4 33

Tagalicod 6-13 2-4 9 3 14 0 3 37

Haydel 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 1 7

Dew 1-2 0-0 2 1 2 0 1 4

Gaddis 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 2

Adolpho 3-5 0-0 6 1 6 0 0 20

TEAM 2

Totals 20-47 25-33 42 11 66 13 20 200

Key - fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

Halftime - Hawaii 31, Alcorn State 31 3-points goals - Alcorn State 9-18 (Whitford 3-4, Ruffin 3-9, Crumbly 2-3, Richmond 1-1, Frost 0-1). Hawaii 1-5 (Bello 1-2, Tagalicod 0-1, Campanero 0-2). Steals - Alcorn State 7 (Breedlove 2, Crumbly 2, Whitfield 2, Tuset). Hawaii 4 (Jackson, Tagalicod, Haydel, Adolpho). Blocked shots - Alcorn State 1 (Andrews). Hawaii 6 (Arbuckle 3, Tagalicod, Dew, Adolpho). Officials - Eric Larson, Brian Yamasaki, Mike Ishikawa. A - 551.

Credit: Brian McInnis