Hawai’i secures outright Big West title on historic Senior Night

HONOLULU – All smiles for Senior Night. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team rolled over Cal State Northridge (4-25, 2-18 Big West) on Saturday night, 62-36, seeing senior MeiLani McBee set the program’s all-time 3-point record as she and five other Rainbow Wahine closed out their careers inside the Stan Sheriff Center with the team’s third regular season Big West title in the last four years. Another senior in Lily Wahinekapu led UH in scoring, pouring in 18 points on an efficient 6-of-11 shooting performance while knocking down a pair of threes herself. 

Wahinekapu was the lone Rainbow Wahine to finish in double figures, but 10 players scored throughout the night for UH – including all six seniors. Fellow local girl Kelsie Imai chipped in with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, putting the Hilo native one dime shy of reaching the program’s all-time top five for helpers. 

There were two moments during game action that elicited ear-splitting cheers; the first came when McBee walked into a behind-the-back pass from Wahinekapu and calmly cashed her 206th career 3-pointer with 7:38 left in regulation, passing Amy Atwell (‘22) for the program’s all-time mark to the delight of a couple thousand passionate fans that had been waiting with bated breath all night. 

The other came with just over a minute remaining when Kalani alum and beloved senior Hallie Birdsong, who spent the majority of her Rainbow Wahine career as a walk-on, drove to the cup and scored to give all six graduating seniors at least a point on Senior Night. 

“That’s what got me,” Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman said of Birdsong’s bucket. “I was fine until she scored and then I started crying on the sideline. I don’t know if I’ve ever cried on the sidelines during a game and that’s the one that got me. A perfect exclamation point to a great night.” 

The victory secured an outright regular season Big West title for Hawai’i (22-8, 16-4 Big West), a feat that should result in an invitation to one of the NCAA Tournament or Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament by next Sunday. Despite the guarantee of either tournament, the Rainbow Wahine have their eyes on a specific one with a message for fans after the regular season closed. 

“We’re not done yet.” 

Mia ‘Uhila started to find her 3-point stroke again, drilling a pair of triples while Brooklyn Rewers closed the regular season with seven points while posting a career-high 13 rebounds, powering the Rainbow Wahine offense in the first half to help the hosts take a double-digit lead by the break. The 6-foot-4 center finished the regular season among the top 25 players in the Big West in rebounds per game despite playing just over 16 minutes per night. 

“[Brooklyn] has always just come through when we needed her,” Beeman said of the senior post player.  

Former Rainbow Wahine forward Nnenna Orji started the night’s scoring with an and-one chance for CSUN, but Hawai’i quickly rattled off the next 10 points to take an eight-point lead with under two minutes left in the first quarter. The Matadors’ scoring drought only snapped with Alondra Lizama’s trip to the charity stripe with 1:37 left in the period, missing their final 15 field goal attempts as Hawai’i led 15-4 through one quarter. 

A nice second quarter from Rewers helped the Rainbow Wahine push the advantage out to 15 by halftime as she knocked down her only 3-pointer of the night and racked up four more boards.  

The second half turned into a rewrite of the Hawai’i record books as MeiLani McBee got in on the fun with her first triple of the night, tying the program 3-point record with 1:06 left in the third quarter while pushing the Rainbow Wahine lead above 20 for the first time all game. After flipping into the final frame, the senior guard broke the mark set by Amy Atwell with 7:41 left in regulation, draining a walk-up three off of a nice behind-the-back drop-off pass from Wahinekapu to give a 47-23 lead to the Rainbow Wahine. 

“I told Mei that I was going to get her one,” Wahinekapu said of the pass with a big smile. “She trailed me, and I saw her – no one was guarding her, so I behind-the-back passed to her and she hit that. That’s when I got chills, when she hit that.” 

The crowd roared for Birdsong’s basket as well, seeing the bench sent into a frenzy too as the senior recorded her third career bucket, all of which have come against Cal State Northridge. With the game in hand, Beeman went to a platoon switch to sub out all five seniors on the floor – giving the crowd one last chance in game to show their aloha to a historically successful crew. 

“Every Senior Night brings something so remarkable, so unique, so different, and each one of them talked about how special each one was to each other and how they were sisters. That’s what I take out of this is the love that this group has for each other,” Beeman said of the memorable night. 

The Rainbow Wahine will leave for the Big West Tournament early on Monday but will not play until the semifinal round on Friday, March 14 at 9 a.m. HT. Hawai’i is looking for the team’s third Big West Tournament title in the past four years and would match the program’s highest win total under Laura Beeman in any season with one more victory.