Hawai’i holds Arkansas–Pine Bluff to historic lows in win

HONOLULU – When in doubt, defense comes out. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team bounced back in a big way on Monday night, taking down Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-7) inside the Stan Sheriff Center, 56-15. The 15 points allowed by the Rainbow Wahine are a program-record low against a Division I opponent, surpassing the previous low of 31 points against UTEP on Jan. 7, 1999, a 68-31 win over the Miners in the WAC Pacific Division opener. 

Brooklyn Rewers led the effort for Hawai’i (6-3) with a game-high 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench, helping snap a two-game losing streak for the Rainbow Wahine on the final night of a six-game homestand. Lily Wahinekapu added 11 points and three assists while Jovi Lefotu chipped in seven points, three boards and three assists in her first start of the season. Lefotu left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury, needing assistance off the floor and immediately retreating to the tunnel behind the Rainbow Wahine bench. 

Kelsie Imai also left the game in the fourth quarter, taking a hard fall and walking off under her own power while grimacing and favoring her hip. Hawai’i had already entered the game without the services of freshman forward Danijela Kujovic, who had worked her way into the rotation, and the reigning Big West Sixth Player of the Year winner in senior guard Daejah Phillips, both sitting on the bench in street clothes Monday evening. 

Both offenses were hurting in the early going, seeing one made shot on a combined 18 attempts over the opening five and a half minutes of action. The lone make came from Wahinekapu, who cashed in from the top of the arc for the game’s first points more than four minutes after the opening tip. 

Hawai’i continued the defensive vice grip on the Lions, taking a 9-2 lead after one quarter of play as Ashley Rojas scored the visitors’ first points with just 17 seconds left in the frame. MeiLani McBee was the lone UH player with more than one score, hitting a three and splitting a pair of free throws to lead everyone with four points after 10 minutes. 

The Rainbow Wahine opened up a double-digit lead by halftime with the help of a 10-3 run, half of which came from Lefotu as the redshirt sophomore guard drilled a triple and twisted in a layup to go up by 14 with 3:43 left in the second quarter. Hawai’i was held scoreless over those final minutes but only allowed one more basket to Arkansas-Pine Bluff to head into halftime ahead, 21-9. 

The offense clicked back into place in the third quarter for Hawai’i, returning to the inside-out philosophy that has led to many impressive frames this season. Wahinekapu swished through her second of three 3-pointers to get the action restarted, followed up by back-to-back layups from Lefotu and Imani Perez before Wahinekapu finished one inside the paint herself. 

“I think it was huge,” head coach Laura Beeman said of UH’s hot offensive start to the third. “First half, I really felt like we had some really good looks and the ball wasn’t falling … It literally comes down to one more paint touch, one more kick and then [the offense] starts to click a little bit and then the defense gets some more juice, and it becomes this good cycle.” 

Brooklyn Rewers connected on her first 3-pointer of the night on the next possession to close out a 12-0 run out of the break, forcing Arkansas-Pine Bluff to signal for timeout to try to stop the momentum. The stoppage did little to break up the offensive rhythm for the Rainbow Wahine, seeing the hosts finish the frame on a 13-0 run behind another two Rewers’ 3-pointers while holding the Golden Lions without a made basket during the entirety of the 10 minutes. 

“I think upping our communication [defensively] really helps us carry energy over to offense because we feel more connected,” Rewers said of the impeccable third quarter for UH. “In that way, we’re kind of in control of the tempo too, so with our offense, we’re more in rhythm and in sync and we’re working off each other that way.” 

The fourth quarter looked for a calm finish to the 10th-largest margin of victory against a Division I program in Hawai’i history, but disaster struck as a hard fall for Kelsie Imai with more than eight minutes left sent silence over the crowd after the tough-nosed guard stayed down for an extended period before finally walking off under her own power. Moments later, Jovi Lefotu had her right leg come out from under her, slipping on the floor and staying down after with a non-contact injury, eventually needing assistance off the floor. 

The Lions scored two baskets in the final minutes of action to push above the all-time low point total allowed by Hawai’i, regardless of opponent (UH-Hilo, 12 points allowed in 1974-75 season). UH also set new single-game defensive records by holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a shivering 11% from the field on just six total made shots (6-55 FG), the previous records being an ice-cold 21.2% FG by San Jose State in a game where the Spartans made 11 total shots. 

In all, five different players scored for visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff as Uriah Jennings led the Lions with five points. The visitors had eight available players for the game, fighting hard but struggling against the depth and size of the Rainbow Wahine. 

Brooklyn Rewers scored 11 of her game-high 13 points in the third quarter, drilling all three of her 3-point attempts as she finished in double figures for the first time this season. Imani Perez and MeiLani McBee each chipped in seven points apiece for the Rainbow Wahine, who will now hit the road for the second time this year with a pair of tough games against Clemson and San Diego State in the San Diego Invitational Tournament on Dec. 20 & 21. 

Following the game, University of Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman also announced that senior forward Jacque David will not return to the team. 

“Jacque David will probably be a medical DQ and won’t be able to return just for injury reasons,” Beeman said to close her postgame media availability. 

David appeared in 58 games (19 starts) during her Hawai’i career, averaging 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game as a versatile piece for the Rainbow Wahine. She knocked down 42 3-pointers in her time with UH and was named the 2022 Rainbow Wahine Rookie of the Year before suffering a major injury during her sophomore year that continued to linger into the 2023-24 season.