Vermont hands Hawaii first loss to open Rainbow Wahine Showdown

HONOLULU – There are lessons in losses.

A youthful University of Hawaii women’s basketball team learned that for the first time on Friday, falling against defending American East Conference champion Vermont inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center to open the American Savings Bank Rainbow Wahine Showdown, 73-67.

Preseason all-American East pick Nikola Priede paced the Catamounts with a game-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 37 minutes of work. Senior guard Keira Hanson, a returning third-team American East selection from a season ago, added all 12 of her points in the second half for Vermont.

The Rainbow Wahine defense fell off in the second half, allowing the Cats to hit on 14-of-28 shots (4-of-8 3PT) after the midway break and rack up a season-high 73 points against UH despite Priede being slowed down after halftime.

Vermont drained nine 3-pointers as a group, shooting 45% from distance with four different players hitting from behind the arc. Hawai’i knocked down just 4-of-21 tries from long range, seeing Kira-May Filemu and Keiara Curtis each make a pair of threes while the other ten Rainbow Wahine went 0-for-10 from deep.

“I thought our on-ball screen defense was pretty bad and so it put us into switches,” Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman proposed when asked what happened defensively to UH in the second half. “Then, when we either collapsed on that switch or we tried to pop out and they were finding open shooters.”

Four of the five starters finished in double figures for Vermont, seeing Malia Lenz and Jadyn Weltz add 14 and 12 points respectively while draining six of the nine 3-pointers for the Catamounts. Lenz broke the back of the Rainbow Wahine defense, hitting 4-of-7 from distance after entering the day with two made 3-pointers on the year total.

The signs of offensive struggles were there early for Hawai’i, seeing the hosts shoot 31% from the field and go 0-for-4 from long range in the opening 10 minutes as Vermont took a 14-12 lead after a quarter of play on Lenz’s second 3-pointer of the afternoon.

After falling down by as many as nine in the second quarter, the Rainbow Wahine responded with a 13-3 run to close the half as Izzy Forsyth gave the lead to UH going into the locker room after a tough and-one finish with 18 seconds left.

The Catamounts clawed back ahead with a scorching hot offensive third quarter, shooting 53% from the floor while forcing Hawai’i into five turnovers to take a 10-point lead into the final frame. After being held scoreless over the opening 20 minutes, Keira Hanson drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points to carry the Vermont offense in the third.

Vermont built the lead up to 13 with 5:05 left in regulation, but the young Wahine refused to go quietly. Hawai’i was able to pull within three with 11 seconds left after a 15-5 run, but the Cats cashed in from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal and deliver the loss to the Rainbow Wahine, 73-67.

Freshman guard Keiara Curtis came off the bench and scored a career-best 16 points in the loss for Hawai’i, providing a spark with 11 points after halftime to try and rally the Rainbow Wahine. The UH bench dominated their Vermont counterparts, 42-10, but saw the starters outscored by 38 points.

“Just doing whatever the team needs,” Curtis said of her mindset while coming off the bench. “Sitting on the bench, I can analyze the game and watch it and see what needs to be done better. So just realizing what I need to do better and what the team needs and just doing that.”

Bailey Flavell added 15 points and four assists as the only other Rainbow Wahine to finish in double digits, scoring 11 of her points in the second half as well. Kira-May Filemu chipped in eight points and hit multiple 3-pointers in a game for the first time in her career in 16 minutes off the bench.

“I’m always just trying to start the game aggressive,” said Flavell when asked about how she balances looking to score versus set up teammates. “But I just need to be better at adjusting to the defense and then [knowing] what’s a good shot or like what’s a good kickout.”

Hawai’i returns to action for Day 2 of the American Savings Bank Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Saturday afternoon against Lindenwood with tip-off scheduled for 2:30 p.m. HT. Lindenwood fell 84-70 on Friday against Santa Clara, who will take on Vermont on Saturday at noon HT.