Hawai’i survives scare from Saint Martin’s in overtime

HONOLULU – Sometimes, young teams make you forget their age.

Sometimes, young teams remind you how important in-game experience can be.

After a nine-day layoff, the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team returned to the floor on Thursday night and battled against rust and a spunky Saint Martin’s University squad, overcoming a poor long-range shooting night and sloppy ball control to fend off an upset attempt from the Saints, 46-41.

Without senior forward Imani Perez for the first time this year, freshman Bailey Flavell stepped up and led the Rainbow Wahine in scoring, pouring in a game-best 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The 5-foot-10 guard grabbed eight rebounds and tallied three steals to go along with her 15 points but turned the ball over five times in 37 minutes of work.

Hawai’i (2-0) turned the ball over 30 times in total, seeing first-year guards Tee Bond and Keiara Curtis lead the team with six giveaways each. The 3-point shooting of the Rainbow Wahine struggled immensely after the near week-and-a-half break between games as the team turned in a 1-for-26 performance from behind the arc.

“This is a very, very young team and we are still growing,” head coach Laura Beeman said following the close win. “To have 30 turnovers and shoot from the three as poorly as we did and still be able to win against a very, very good team, I’m happy with these guys.”

Curtis turned in a very nice final stat line in her second college game despite the six turnovers, scoring 14 points, grabbing seven rebounds and snatching three steals while hitting UH’s lone 3-pointer of the game to help spark the Rainbow Wahine to a comeback in the fourth quarter.

While Beeman acknowledged the ugly brand of basketball played throughout the night, the veteran head coach applauded her young group for doing enough to win in the end despite having a poor offensive performance.

“Bottom line, they never quit,” said Beeman. “We had a young group out on the floor at the end of the game again and they did what they needed to do to win that ballgame, so, incredibly proud of this group.”

The two sides traded blows in a defensive rock fight early, going a combined 6-for-26 from the field in the opening quarter as Saint Martin’s (1-2) took a 10-8 lead after 10 minutes of play. The Saints knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and forced seven Rainbow Wahine turnovers in the first frame, taking advantage of a sloppy start from the hosts.

UH’s struggles against the Saint Martin’s zone defense continued into the second quarter, seeing nine more giveaways aid the Saints in taking a 24-21 lead into the locker rooms despite the Rainbow Wahine shooting 50% from the field in the period.

Despite the bumpy process on the offensive side of the court, the UH defense was strong. The Rainbow Wahine held the Saints to 25% shooting over the opening 20 minutes, but the four made 3-pointers helped the visitors from Division II overcome Hawai’i’s strong defense and dominance on the glass.

Saint Martin’s continued to put a scare into the Rainbow Wahine when play resumed in the third quarter, extending the advantage to eight by the end of the frame after forcing seven more turnovers.

Sleep-walking towards being upset at home, Hawai’i searched for of a shot of espresso for the offense as they entered the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Enter Keiara Curtis.

After Kira-May Filemu got the comeback started with a layup for her only points of the night, Curtis finished a layup off a Saints turnover and drilled UH’s lone 3-pointer of the night 34 seconds later to pull the Rainbow Wahine within a point less than 90 ticks into the fourth quarter.

Hawai’i took the team’s first lead since the opening half on the next possession as UC San Diego transfer Izzy Forsyth drained a pair of free throws for her first points with the Rainbow Wahine, giving a 38-37 advantage to the hosts with eight minutes left to play.

UH’s defense held Saint Martin’s without a field goal for the entirety of the fourth quarter, but Kiana Rios would split a pair of free throws for the Saints with 1:10 remaining in regulation to tie it at 38 and send the game to overtime.

Flavell gave the Rainbow Wahine the first points of the extra period and a 40-38 lead after senior Saniyah Neverson dove on the ground for a loose ball to get UH an extra chance with 2:46 left to play.

Freshman Kyra Webb extended the Hawai’i lead on the next trip down the court and Flavell followed suit on the subsequent possession to put the Rainbow Wahine up by six with 1:06 remaining, allowing fans to take a breath.

Three more free throw makes from Saint Martin’s pulled the visitors within a couple of possessions with 47 seconds to play, but Flavell capped off the night with one more make at the charity stripe to push the Rainbow Wahine over the finish line.

The UH defense held Saint Martin’s without a make from the field over the final 15 minutes, allowing the group to escape with the victory despite shooting 6-for-24 from the floor over the same span.

Jaylah Brown led the Saints with nine points, knocking down 3-of-7 from behind the arc. Kiana Rios added eight points, three rebounds and two assists in what amounts to an exhibition loss for Saint Martin’s.

Freshman forward Kyra Webb provided a boost off the bench for the slightly depleted Rainbow Wahine frontcourt, pulling down a game-best 10 rebounds while scoring four points and handing out three assists in the win. Senior forward Saniyah Neverson chipped in with four points and nine rebounds of her own while not turning it over at all in 36 minutes of work for UH.

“[Webb] just gives us a really different style player out there,” Beeman said after the win. “A big target for our guards, she can shoot the ball obviously, but her and Saniyah on the boards today were impressive and we needed that.”

Hawai’i faces another extended layoff before returning to the court for game action, waiting eight days before opening up the 2025 Bank of Hawai’i Classic against LMU on November 21. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. HT inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine hope to get back a few more pieces by the time the tournament rolls around after Perez joined guard Jovi Lefotu and center Ritorya Tamilo on the sideline in street clothes against the Saints.

Izzy Forsyth did make her debut for the Rainbow Wahine, playing in her first game in over a year after suffering a season-ending injury at UCSD. Jade Peacock also returned from a preseason injury on Thursday night, though both veterans were on a minutes restriction in their first games back.