Long Beach State hands Hawai’i first home conference loss in 656 days

HONOLULU – Back to the drawing board. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team fell to a Big West opponent inside the Stan Sheriff Center for the first time in nearly two years on Saturday night, seeing Long Beach State stun the Rainbow Wahine in overtime, 73-69. Savannah Tucker led the way for LBSU, scoring a game-best 23 points while knocking down 11-of-12 free throw attempts in the upset win. 

“There’s a lot of high expectations on this team,” UH head coach Laura Beeman said after the loss. “Tonight feels doubly bad because of that. It is not the end of the world [though], we will regroup, we will get better and we will be okay.” 

Lily Wahinekapu poured in 20 points, four rebounds and five turnovers in the loss for Hawai’i (5-3, 0-1 Big West), her fifth time scoring in double figures this year. Daejah Phillips, a two-time Sixth Player of the Year winner and four-time all-conference selection, ended the night with four points in 19 minutes of work before exiting the game with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and not returning with an apparent injury. 

Star freshman Ritorya Tamilo returned from a one-game absence, adding 14 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots in the middle for the Rainbow Wahine. Sophomore guard Jovi Lefotu also made her way back to the court after missing all three games of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, scoring nine points and snatching two steals in the loss. 

Back-to-back early 3-pointers by Patricia Chung pushed the Beach (5-3, 2-0 Big West) out in front by four before Lefotu checked in for the first time and quickly got into the box sheet with a smooth left-handed finish, sparking an 8-3 run that put Hawai’i back ahead by one with under three minutes left in the opening frame. 

Four makes from distance helped push the Beach into the second quarter leading 18-14, seeing Hawai’i be whistled for eight team fouls in the opening 10 minutes of action. Savannah Tucker was at the front of the charge for the visitors, scoring eight points and making five of her six attempts from the charity stripe in the frame. 

Wahinekapu brought the Rainbow Wahine back within one before a pair of Perez free throws pushed them ahead, 26-25. Long Beach responded on the other end as Chung drilled her third 3-pointer of the first half, but Tamilo would send the game into halftime all tied at 28 as she calmly swished a pair of free throws with 40 seconds left. 

“I think on the perimeter, particularly in the first half, we lost sight of Tucker and Chung,” Beeman said of UH’s defense. “We let Chung go 3-for-3 from three and put Tucker at the free throw line five out of six time and that was the scout, not to do those things. So, the first half we let those guys get going a little bit.” 

Hawai’i came out of the second half gates swinging, opening the third quarter on an 8-2 run behind a couple of threes from Perez and Wahinekapu. Long Beach State again had the answer, countering back with a 15-6 swing to go up three with 2:20 left in the frame as they continued to get solid looks inside the paint. 

“I think my biggest issue was transition defense versus our press and inbounds plays,” Beeman said. “When you’re looking at the back of someone’s jersey, it’s hard to get a stop.” 

Tamilo tied the game at 45 after an and-one finish with 2:04 left in the third, but seven straight points by Jada Crawshaw put the visiting Beach ahead by as many as five just moments into the fourth quarter. Back-to-back threes in each corner by MeiLani McBee sparked the fire again for Hawai’i and Kelsie Imai twisted through a clogged lane all the way to the cup to give the Rainbow Wahine the lead with 7:16 left in regulation, 55-54. 

Rachel Loobie’s layup put LBSU back in front and a Lovely Sonnier finish in the paint gave the visitors a three-point advantage as Daejah Phillips exited for Hawai’i with some discomfort, but two straight Jovi Lefotu layups inched the Rainbow Wahine in front again with 3:21 left in the fourth. Wahinekapu’s clutch bucket with under 90 seconds to play gave UH a three-point cushion, but some shaky free throw shooting down the stretch allowed JaQuoia Jones-Brown to tie the game at 62 for LBSU just before the buzzer and send the contest to overtime. 

“Defensively, we did not play good at all,” Beeman reflected. “They exposed a lot of things that I think have been creeping up on us … I give credit to Long Beach for that.” 

Jones-Brown put the Beach in front with another bucket to start the extra period, but a clean triple from Wahinekapu put Hawai’i ahead by two with under three minutes left to play. Savannah Tucker tied the game at 66 with a couple of makes from the foul line and Patricia Chung hit a deep heave for her first points since the first half to put LBSU ahead for good, 69-68, with 1:03 left in overtime. 

Tucker iced the game at the line for the visiting Beach, hitting all four free throw chances in final 30 seconds of the game to hand the Rainbow Wahine the first loss to a Big West team inside SimplFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center since February 20, 2023, a 49-47 heartbreaker also coming versus LBSU. 

Patricia Chung added seven rebounds and handed out five assists to go along with her 12 points in the upset win for Long Beach State, who had four different players finish in double figures. Jada Crawshaw and JaQuoia Jones-Brown combined for 20 points for LBSU with 15 of them coming after the halftime break, helping the Beach stay perfect through “Bold Week” in the Big West. 

Hawai’i will return to action in a little over a week, looking to a snap a two-game home losing streak when Arkansas Pine-Bluff comes to town on December 16. The Rainbow Wahine will then close out the non-conference schedule with another challenging mid-season tournament, heading over to the San Diego Invitational for matchups with San Diego State and Georgia. 

“We’re going to bounce back from this, we’re going to be okay,” Beeman said. “Sometimes losses, as much as they hurt and you don’t want them, you have to grow from them. That is just the type of team we are, we are not going to stay stuck here, I promise you that. We will grow from this.”