Short-handed Hawai’i holds off Portland State behind young standouts

HONOLULU – Welcome back, Wahine.

After a literal changing of the guard in the program during the offseason that saw nine players move on and eight new faces enter, the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team continued the winning ways in Mānoa to open the 2025-26 season with a tidy 74-63 victory over Portland State inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Tuesday night.

Five different Rainbow Wahine finished in double figures, led by freshman guard Bailey Flavell’s 14 points. Teyahna Bond, Saniya Neverson and Danijela Kujovic each tacked on 11 points for UH while freshman Kyra Webb turned heads with a 10-point, 7-rebound performance in her college debut.

“Good, great home opener,” Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman said following the win. “I looked at the court at one point and we had four freshmen and a redshirt freshman [to close the game] and we never lost confidence in what that group on the court was going to do.”

Already without the services of Jovi Lefotu, Jade Peacock and Ritorya Tamilo again, the Rainbow Wahine saw senior all-conference forward Imani Perez exit with some discomfort early in the first quarter against the Vikings and be held out for the remainder of the night.

Even without the all-defensive standout, Hawai’i held Portland State to 36% shooting from the field (20-of-55) and just 3-of-19 from behind the arc while forcing 17 turnovers. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine recorded 17 games with 15 or more turnovers forced.

UH started strong, jumping out to a 16-11 lead after one quarter of play behind a balanced scoring effort. Four different Rainbow Wahine scored in the opening five minutes and sophomore Kira-May Filemu helped grab some breathing room by the end of the frame with seven quick points off the bench.

Hawai’i extended the lead to six by halftime behind a defense that held Portland State to 30% shooting from the floor and forced nine turnovers during the opening 20 minutes of action. After pulling within two with 4:11 left before halftime, the Vikings went 1-for-7 to finish the frame.

Bailey Flavell and her fellow freshmen pushed UH’s advantage into double figures quickly into the third quarter as Kujovic, Bond and Flavell ripped off a 6-0 run after giving up the first basket of the second half. Punahou alum Laynee Torres-Kahapea pulled the Vikings within four with under two minutes to go in the third, but Kyra Webb free throw and Kujovic triple to close the quarter sent the Rainbow Wahine into the fourth up, 57-49.

Portland State G Laynee Torres-Kahapea looks up at the shot clock while handling the ball against UH. The Punahou alum had a game-best 22 points in her return to the islands with the Vikings. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Torres-Kahapea and Sophie Buzzard powered another Portland State rally to begin the final period, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the frame to make it a two-point game and force Beeman and Hawai’i to call timeout with 6:37 to play.

Needing to lean on the underclassmen with five key experienced rotational players unavailable down the stretch, the Rainbow Wahine showed poise beyond their years as they held the Vikings without a made field goal and didn’t turn the ball over a single time in the final four minutes of regulation to close out the 74-63 win.

“They have brought energy and effort since Day 1,” Beeman said of newest crop of Rainbow Wahine. “There are things as a freshman that you don’t know that a junior or a senior knows and I thought the last three minutes of this game, that group on the court became tighter, more efficient, more communicative and executed better understanding of time and score.”

Torres-Kahapea led all scorers with 22 points in her return to the islands, going 6-for-8 from the floor (2-for-3 3PT) and 8-of-10 at the free throw line to keep Portland State close throughout. Sophie Buzzard added 20 points and five rebounds while Kyleigh Brown finished as the other player in double figures in the loss for the Vikings with 12 points before fouling out.

The Rainbow Wahine return to action in nine days, playing host to Saint Martin’s before opening up the Bank of Hawai’i Classic the following weekend against LMU as part of a spaced-out November slate. The first road game of the year won’t come until the first week of December for UH, one of just two trips away from the Stan Sheriff Center in the team’s non-conference schedule.