Dec. 9, 2001

Box Score

Honolulu, Hawaii - For 30 minutes, the University of Illinois at Chicago women's basketball team gave the University of Hawaii all it could handle.

It was the first ten minutes that proved to be the problem.

Hawaii used a 20-0 run in the opening ten minutes to put the game out of reach as the Rainbow Wahine earned a 71-50 victory over UIC in the final game of the Tesoro Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center on Sunday evening.

With the loss, UIC drops to 5-2 for the season, while Hawaii improves to 5-2.

"We didn't get back in the defensive transition," UIC head coach Tim Eatman said of the run. "When you don't play that well, you give up open shots."

Hawaii's Natasja Allen was the thorn in the Flames' side in the opening 20 minutes as she converted 6-of-7 shots for 13 points. Allen finished with a game-high 21 points, while teammates Christen Roper (11 points) and April Atuaia (10 points) also turned in solid efforts for the Wahine.

Junior forward Jaysie Chambers led UIC with 14 points, while senior forward Stesha Rhodes chipped in 12 points. Following the game, junior center Zsuzsa Tarnai was named to the All-Tournament team.

Eatman figures that this weekend will be helpful to his squad in the long run.

"When we go to Green Bay and Milwaukee, those are games that we have to win on the road," Eatman said. "This game gives us a chance to understand how to play on the road.

"The good thing about coming here is that is that this is how hard you have to play from the start," Eatman continued. "To beat a good team, you have to do the little things, a lot better."

UIC will be back in action on December 15th as they will host Chicago State at 6:00 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion.