Hawai’i rides defense to season sweep of UC Irvine, 13th straight win

Baker’s dozen. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team shook off another player absence in a season filled with them to secure their 13th consecutive win on Saturday afternoon, locking down UC Irvine (16-8, 10-4 Big West) to take a 2.5 game lead atop the Big West conference standings with a 49-44 road victory. The Rainbow Wahine were without the services of senior guard Mia ‘Uhila, who suffered an injury in the first half of Hawai’i’s win over Long Beach State on Thursday and missed her first game this season.

Kelsie Imai started in place of the injured ‘Uhila, filling in admirably as she matched her career-high with a team-best 12 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 33 minutes of work. Imai became the eighth Rainbow Wahine all-time to record 300 or more assists in her career in the win over LBSU and sits four dimes shy of tying Tia Kanoa (‘18-19) for sixth-most in program history. 

Imani Perez was the only other Hawai’i player to finish in double figures, chipping in 10 points and five rebounds to help the Rainbow Wahine sweep the regular season series against the Anteaters. Freshman center Ritorya Tamilo added eight points and 10 rebounds while blocking two shots to break the single-season freshman record for rejections with her 34th of the year – breaking Jeanne Wade’s record of 33 blocked shots from 1983-84. 

Hawai’i (19-6, 13-2 Big West) got a balanced effort from the jump, seeing six different players score in an opening quarter that the Rainbow Wahine used to take an 8-point lead through 10 minutes of play. MeiLani McBee scored all of her points on the day in the frame, drilling a three and short jumper to give her five points to lead all scorers after one. 

The Anteaters flipped the script in the second quarter, using a 16-2 run to push in front by five with 2:09 left in the half before the Rainbow Wahine closed the stanza with back-to-back buckets to go into the locker rooms trailing by one, 24-23. Hawai’i struggled shooting the ball in the period, connecting on just 3-of-17 attempts from the field and going 0-for-7 from long distance. 

After hitting each other with a pair of major right hooks in each of the first two quarters, the two Big West contenders played a far more competitive third frame, using the halftime break to settle back in. After the senior guards in Kelsie Imai and Lily Wahinekapu helped get the Rainbow Wahine back in the flow offensively, freshmen Ritorya Tamilo and Kira-May Filemu finished the period with quick snap to leave UH ahead by three after three quarters. 

With the lead in hand, Hawai’i turned back to its experience as they calmly closed out the team’s 13th consecutive victory with complimentary basketball down the stretch. The Rainbow Wahine connected on all 10 free throw attempts in the period, held UC Irvine to 1-of-9 shooting from the field over the final 10 minutes and never saw the Anteaters pull closer than two possessions to close out the day, 49-44.

Deja Lee and Hunter Hernandez each finished with eight points to lead UC Irvine, who fell at home for just the second time all season. The Hawai’i defense has been UCI’s kryptonite this year, seeing two of the team’s three lowest single-game scoring outputs in the two meetings with the Rainbow Wahine (42, 44). 

Lily Wahinekapu, who became the 25th player in Hawai’i program history to eclipse the 1,000-point threshold on Thursday, scored six points in the win over the Anteaters as she took sole possession of 10th place on the all-time made 3-pointers list (111) with two more triples on Saturday. 

Hawai’i finally gets a break in the action with a bye on Thursday before returning to the Stan Sheriff Center on February 22 for a battle against UC San Diego. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. HT. Fans are asked to wear pink as UH and Hawaii Pacific Health partner up to put the spotlight on the fight against cancer, calling Saturday’s contest a “Pink Game” for the Rainbow Wahine.