Hawai’i falls at Portland as late Rainbow Wahine comeback runs out of time 

Turnovers and triples. 

For the second year in a row, the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team opened the season with a road loss against an NCAA Tournament squad as the Rainbow Wahine fell to defending WCC tournament champion Portland on Thursday, 76-65. Hawai’i struggled with the heavy defensive pressure of the Pilots, committing 24 turnovers that lead to 27 points for Portland. 

Flush with talent that head coach Laura Beeman has admitted will lead to plenty of tinkering throughout the season, Hawai’i’s first starting lineup of the year included Daejah Phillips, last season’s Big West 6th Player of the Year award winner, along with Lily Wahinekapu, MeiLani McBee, Brooklyn Rewers and Imani Perez. The veteran Rainbow Wahine lineup got off to a solid start, scoring the first five points of the game before Portland responded with a 9-0 run on the back of three straight 3-pointers. 

The Pilots continued the marksmanship from long range through the media timeout, using a multitude of UH miscues to extend the lead to eight by the end of the first quarter, 18-10. In all, Portland connected on five triples in the opening frame to just two by the Rainbow Wahine. 

Phillips scored 11 of the 20 points in the second quarter for Hawai’i as they got the turnover problem under control, but the Pilots stayed hot from 3-point range to counter each Rainbow Wahine run on the way to a 40-30 lead at the halftime break. 

Hawai’i started slowly out of the gate in the second half, giving up the first six points before Jade Peacock got the Rainbow Wahine offense going again with a 3-pointer. The Australian guard jumped a passing lane and took a steal to the rack for another two before a Phillips bucket with 5:56 remaining in the third quarter brought Hawai’i back within single digits for the first time after halftime. 

The Rainbow Wahine pulled as close as seven with 3:43 left in the third after freshman Kira-May Filemu put back a Jovi Lefotu miss, but Portland would end the quarter on a 15-2 run behind the turnover issues returning for UH and take a massive 20-point lead into the fourth. Lefotu finished with seven points, three assists and three steals in her first official action back in over a year and a half. 

Hawai’i did not quit fighting despite the daunting margin that grew as large as 23, closing out the final eight minutes of regulation on a 20-8 run behind a bevy of forced turnovers. The Rainbow Wahine pulled within eight with 1:07 left to play when Daejah Phillips came up with a steal, but she was unable to connect with a teammate on the throw-ahead pass and the Pilots closed the door on the UH comeback try from the charity stripe, 76-65. 

Portland was led by Maisie Burnham’s 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting (3-of-5 3PT) in 22 minutes of action, going 7-for-8 at the free throw line in the win. Emme Shearer added 15 points for the Pilots, while Dyani Ananiev chipped in 13 points in 23 minutes off the bench. 

Daejah Phillips paced the Rainbow Wahine with 19 points, going a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line while adding four rebounds and three steals in the loss. Freshman center Ritortya Tamilo was the only other Hawai’i player to reach double figures, adding 10 points off the bench in her first official collegiate contest. 

Hawai’i set a new program record for most single-game free throw attempts without a miss, nailing all 25 shots against the Pilots to surpass the record of 16 that was set back in March of 2001. It helped the team combat some ugly numbers as they shot just 44 percent to Portland’s 50 percent from the field while turning the ball over a whopping 24 times. 

Mia ‘Uhila chipped in eight points off the bench, all coming from the foul line in her Hawai’i debut. The Rainbow Wahine will put the loss behind them and quickly shift focus to ‘Uhila’s old squad, Portland State, who they face on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. HT.