Lessons abound for Hawaii after loss to Santa Clara ends long weekend

HONOLULU – Consistency is tricky for young teams.

Just one week after going unbeaten in the Bank of Hawaii Classic, the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team dropped three straight games to finish at the bottom of a four-team American Savings Bank Rainbow Wahine Showdown field. The weekend closed up for the Rainbow Wahine with a 76-57 loss to Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon.

“Tough weekend, really good teams,” UH head coach Laura Beeman said at the conclusion of the tournament. “We have a lot of areas that we need to improve on, and we will.”

Sophie Glancey led all scorers with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Broncos, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. Fellow forward Kylee Fox added 18 points and six rebounds while knocking down four 3-pointers in the victory for Santa Clara.

Maia Jones was the third and final Bronco to finish in double figures, chipping in 15 points, four rebounds and five assists in 22 minutes of action.

Hawai’i (4-3) struggled to protect the ball against Santa Clara, committing 24 turnovers as a group that led directly to 28 points for the visitors. While the Rainbow Wahine matched a season high mark with six made 3-pointers, they allowed an opponent-high 11 triples to the Broncos.

The turnovers played a big role early, helped Santa Clara jump out to a 20-8 lead through 10 minutes of play as UH gave the ball away seven times and shot just 3-of-13 from the field.

The advantage for the Broncos grew to as large as 14 in the second period, but a 3-pointer from Kira-May Filemu along with a couple of quality takes by Kyra Webb helped the Rainbow Wahine trim it to a 35-25 deficit heading into halftime.

“I think it’s the pace. I think [these three opponents] play at a level that we have to get to,” Beeman explained of the high turnover margin over the weekend. “When you’re playing against teams that move the ball quickly, cut quickly, are physical within that and they process really fast, you’re always playing a little bit of catch-up. So I think that’s just that we don’t know what we don’t know yet.”

The Rainbow Wahine have committed 59 turnovers over the past three contests while playing against teams selected to finish first in the American East (Vermont), first in the Ohio Valley Conference (Lindenwood) and fifth in the West Coast Conference (Santa Clara).

“I think if in 20 games from now we’re having the same conversation [about turnovers], we might have a problem,” Beeman continued. “I don’t think we will be. I think our base will be much better … I think this is a really great tournament heading into conference.”

Despite the turnovers, Hawai’i was within four with 4:58 to play in the third quarter as Bailey Flavell put some bag work on display and Tee Bond worked home a layup of her own.

Unfortunately for UH, the rally ended there as Kylee Fox and Ava Schmidt drained a pair of 3-pointers to put Santa Clara back up double figures. Hawai’i guard Izzy Forsyth drained one of her three triples of the afternoon to make it a 47-38 deficit with 3:16 remaining in the third but could not get closer as Maia Jones ended the quarter with nine straight points for the Broncos.

Fox, Jones and Glancey took turns pushing out the deficit in the fourth quarter, handing Hawai’i its third straight loss to close out the Showdown, 76-57.

Bailey Flavell led UH in scoring for the fourth time in six games, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds in the loss. The freshman was the lone player named to the All-Tournament for the Rainbow Wahine after averaging 15.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assist over the three games.

Senior forward Imani Perez added nine points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block while going 4-for-7 shooting while UC San Diego transfer Izzy Forsyth had season highs in points (9), made 3-pointers (3) and minutes (20) for the Rainbow Wahine. The senior scored five total points across her first five games with UH as she worked back into form following an injury.

Forsyth said she was feeling “pretty good” following the toll of three games in three day and gave credit to her teammates for finding her in open positions behind the arc. The senior provides a veteran presence on a youthful Rainbow Wahine squad and took care of the ball well on Sunday, committing only one of UH’s 24 turnovers.

The schedule takes a brief detour this week for a pair of Big West road games for the Rainbow Wahine. Hawai’i will play away from the islands for the first time this season on Thursday, December 4 when they visit UC Davis (6-2) for Bold Week.

“We’re a great team, we’re a talented team,” Beeman said when asked of the positives following the tournament. “This team brings a lot of effort all the time … We have some growing pains, and they will get there because the one thing this team wants to do is win. These kids don’t like to lose.”