UC San Diego halts red-hot Hawai’i in Big West Championship

The clock has struck midnight on Hawai’i’s fairytale Big West finale.

After back-to-back magical overtime wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team’s 2026 Credit Union 1 Big West Championship run ran out of gas in the conference title game on Saturday against No. 2 seed UC San Diego, 60-48.

The defending tournament champion Tritons, who split the regular season Big West crown with top-seeded UC Irvine, were led by junior center Erin Condron’s 22 points and 14 rebounds. The first-team All-Big West selection was dominant in the second half, scoring 16 of her points and grabbing nine rebounds after the break to help UC San Diego erase a double-digit deficit for the program’s second straight Big West Tournament title.

Senior guard Makayla Rose was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after wrapping up her conference career with a 17-point, eight-rebound performance to help cool off the scorching hot Rainbow Wahine. The conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and Co-Hustle Player of the Year, Rose also racked up a game-high five steals as the Tritons forced 19 turnovers by UH.

Hawai’i (22-11) struggled at the start, going nearly five minutes without a point before Kyra Webb finally got them on the board with a spinning hook to make it a 4-2 deficit at the first media timeout for the Rainbow Wahine.

Keiara Curtis helped UH step on the gas to close out the opening frame, knocking down a pair of free throws and drilling her lone 3-pointer of the day as part of a 13-2 run that opened a seven-point lead for the Rainbow Wahine. UCSD’s Makayla Rose answered with a triple of her own to make it a four-point game after 10 minutes of action, capitalizing on the sixth turnover by Hawai’i in the first quarter.

Jovi Lefotu helped keep the Rainbow Wahine in front with a pair of layups as the second quarter wound down, holding off a push from Tritons guard Rosa Smith before Ritorya Tamilo rattled off five straight points to open up a 28-18 lead for Hawai’i with 1:05 left in the first half.

Erin Condron closed the quarter with the final bucket, finally getting on track in the last minute of the half after being held to four points over the previous 19 minutes.

After Dymonique Maxie split a pair of free throws to begin the third quarter, Bailey Flavell and Saniyah Neverson took turns finishing feeds from Teyahna Bond and Curtis to extend the lead to a game-high 11 points for Hawai’i two minutes into the second half.

UC San Diego found its footing again by leaning on Rose and Condron, seeing each chip in a pair of buckets as part of an 11-0 run that tied the game at 32 for the Tritons with 3:55 to play in the third. A finish from Tamilo and triple from Lefotu kept the Rainbow Wahine ahead until the final minute of the frame when Condron and Rose combined for a 6-0 run to send UCSD into the final 10 minutes leading by three.

Toiling through a third high-intensity game in as many days, the Rainbow Wahine saw the offense sputter in the fourth quarter as they made just four of their final 13 attempts from the field while the fresher Tritons (who enjoyed the benefits of a double bye after earning the conference’s No. 2 seed) sizzled to a 67% shooting clip over the championship-clinching 10 minutes.

“It was definitely hard,” senior forward Saniyah Neverson said when asked about the team’s stamina after playing in back-to-back overtime contests leading up to the conference title game. “But I think we fought as hard as we could. That’s just a good team and we gave it our all.”

Bailey Flavell led the Rainbow Wahine with 13 points in the loss, grabbing five rebounds while shooting 6-of-14 from the field. Neverson chipped in eight points, six rebounds and four blocks while matching Flavell for a team-high 33 minutes of work.

Flavell and Imani Perez each were named to the Big West all-tournament team for their efforts over the course of the weekend. Condron also made all-tournament team for UC San Diego along with Rose being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“Congratulations to UC San Diego,” Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman said. “They’ve had our number all year long. A very experienced team, their guard play has been exceptional all year long and I thought Erin Condron had a phenomenal game today.”

Beeman’s voice broke momentarily as she closed her opening statement talking about her team that rallied to win 16 of the final 17 contests before the Big West Championship title game.

“Unless you’re from Hawai’i, you don’t know what it feels like when you play for a state,” the Rainbow Wahine head coach said. “There’s a level of disappointment that’s very different when you play for a state. So, tough locker room. Love these kids, super proud of them, we weren’t supposed to be here but they’re amazing.”

Hawai’i will await to see if their season will continue with a bid to either the WBIT or WNIT after falling short of claiming the Big West’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 48-team WNIT team field will be revealed after the WBIT and NCAA Tournament fields come out on Sunday afternoon.

The 2026 NCAA Tournament (WBB) selection show begins at 2 p.m. HT while the reveal of the WBIT bracket begins at 3 p.m. HT and can be found on ESPN+ on Sunday, March 15. The WNIT field can be found HERE.