WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP : UC Santa Barbara Upsets Hawaii

UC Santa Barbara, Team Cliche, did it again in the Big West Conference women’s basketball tournament.

The team that pulls out all of the old stops, from talking about “staying together as a team” and complaining about how “nobody gives us any respect” right down to having a coach who promises to shave his mustache after a big victory, defeated top-seeded Hawaii, 80-77, Saturday at Long Beach Arena for its second consecutive Big West tournament championship.

Cori Close, the tournament’s most valuable player, finished with 23 points and made three free throws in the final 16 seconds to break a 77-77 tie.

Close, who set a tournament single-game record with 15 assists, made her first free throw with 16 seconds left and missed her second, but teammate Amy Hughlett pulled down the rebound and Close was fouled again with 11 seconds to play. This time, the senior made both free throws.

The Gauchos (18-11) led the entire second half until Hawaii’s Kaui Wakita made a three-pointer with 5:26 to play to give the Rainbows to a 68-67 lead.

But Hawaii (28-4) did not score in the game’s final 1:30 and had its 19-game winning streak end. As a result, Hawaii will spend today awaiting an NCAA invitation instead of having earned an automatic bid.

Last year, Hawaii was snubbed by the NCAA after finishing 25-7.

Santa Barbara Coach Mark French, meanwhile, was on the way to shave his mustache.

“Last year, before the Stanford game, some creative motivators asked me if I would shave my mustache if we won,” French said. “I’m a coach, and I’d do anything for a win--shave my head, whatever.

“This year, the same group of creative motivators came up to me when we were mathematically eliminated from the regular-season championship and asked me if I would shave it again if we won the tournament championship, and now I’m going to.”