Hawai’i slows down speedy Cal Poly for first Big West win

Hawai’i slows down speedy Cal Poly for first Big West win

Jan 4, 2025

Hawai’i F Gytis NemeikÅ¡a shoots a free throw during a home game. The 6-foot-8 forward had 19 points to lead Hawai’i to a conference win over Cal Poly on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Hawai’i slows down speedy Cal Poly for first Big West win

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 4, 2025

HONOLULU – First Big West battle to go to the ‘Bows. 

The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team slowed down the nation’s fastest-paced program in Cal Poly on Saturday night, dispatching the Mustangs 68-55 for the first conference win in three tries. Gytis Nemeikša paced the Rainbow Warriors, scoring 19 points to go along with nine rebounds as he finished as UH’s game-high scorer for the fifth time this year. 

Tom Beattie finished in double figures for the first time since the Weber State game (Nov. 17) as he poured in 15 points in 28 minutes off the bench while Tanner Christensen posted his third double-double of the season and second in Big West play with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Rainbow Warriors. Saturday was the sixth time in the last seven games that Hawai’i has had at least three players finish with 10+ points. 

With senior standout Marcus Greene dealing with foul troubles from start to finish, guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor played over 20 minutes for the second time in his college career as the 6-foot-2 freshman hit his first career three-pointer while grabbing four rebounds and handing out three assists. The ball moved into quality scoring opportunities all night as UH tallied 17 assists on 23 made baskets. 

Cal Poly (6-10, 0-4 Big West) entered the weekend with KenPom’s top Adjusted Tempo in all of Division I men’s college basketball, averaging nearly 77 possessions per 40 minutes. An area of focus for the UH defense, the Mustangs posted the team’s second-lowest fast break scoring output of the year with five points in transition (Season-low four fast break points in 91-73 loss at California on November 7). 

The Rainbow Warriors (9-5, 1-2 Big West) jumped out to an early 8-1 lead as Nemeikša continued his sweet shooting from long range and Akira Jacobs connected from the left corner. The Mustangs responded with a pair of triples of their own, seeing Issac Jessup coax a second three-pointer in with a friendly bounce to cut the Hawai’i lead to one with 11:37 left to play in the first half. 

Beattie burst out of his month-long scoring slump after the media timeout, punctuating a mini run of his own with a one-handed dunk off a nice find from Harry Rouhliadeff that restored the Rainbow Warriors’ seven-point lead with two and a half minutes left before halftime. One final Beattie bucket erased Owen Koonce’s makes from the foul line before Cal Poly’s Peter Bandelj got a layup to drop just before the break to make it a five-point difference at halftime, 27-22. 

Hawai’i attacked the rim with an increased focus to open the second half, scoring 15 of the first 17 points behind another Nemeikša scoring avalanche and a Christensen dunk to go up 42-24 after four and a half minutes of action. The Mustangs fought back, cutting the UH lead down to 11 after Koonce drilled a three with 10:58 left to play but lost momentum after the media timeout as Akira Jacobs muscled in a layup through contact and added a free throw for good measure right after play resumed. 

The Rainbow Warrior run rolled on with Aaron Hunkin-Claytor’s first career three-point make before Hawai’i took a game-high 20-point lead on a short jumper by Jacobs with about six minutes left to play. A pair of makes from the foul line by NemeikÅ¡a with 2:34 left made it 68-49, closing the scoring for Hawai’i before Cal Poly scored six points to close the margin slightly before the final horn. 

Owen Koonce was the lone Mustang in double figures, scoring 15 points (5-11 FG, 2-2 3PT) and snagging five rebounds in the loss. Sharpshooter Issac Jessup was held to just eight points, hitting on 2-of-10 attempts from three-point range off the bench as Cal Poly was held to just 62 total possessions. 

Hawai’i will travel to the continent next week for a two-game road trip, taking on UC Riverside on Thursday before facing off against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors dropped both away games they have played this season, including the Big West opener at Long Beach State in December. 

Veteran guards help Hawai’i pick up first conference win at Cal Poly

Veteran guards help Hawai’i pick up first conference win at Cal Poly

Jan 4, 2025

Hawai’i G Lily Wahinekapu directs traffic during a home game in December. The senior scored 14 points and dished out 7 assists in UH’s win over Cal Poly on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Veteran guards help Hawai’i pick up first conference win at Cal Poly

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 4, 2025

There’s one. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team continued the program’s winning ways over Cal Poly on Saturday afternoon, taking down the Mustangs for UH’s first Big West win of the season, 62-50. Three different Rainbow Wahine finished in double figures, led by MeiLani McBee’s 14 points (3-5 3PT) as Hawai’i won for a seventh consecutive time over Cal Poly and snapped a three-game losing streak in the process. 

Lily Wahinekapu added 14 points and seven assists in the win, providing multiple timely baskets and a calming presence against some late full court pressure from the Mustangs. Brooklyn Rewers scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench, draining two of Hawai’i’s six total three-point makes. 

Despite Imani Perez missing her second consecutive game, Hawai’i got back to dominating the glass by outrebounding Cal Poly by 10 while earning 26 free throws throughout the day. The suffocating defense of the Rainbow Wahine returned after an uncharacteristic showing on Thursday, holding down the Mustangs to 31% shooting from the field and 17 total points between the second and third quarters. 

Veteran guard Kelsie Imai remained out along with freshman guard Danijela Kujovic, but redshirt sophomore Jovi Lefotu returned for Hawai’i after a three-game absence and grabbed a rebound in seven minutes of work off the bench. Lefotu left late in UH’s 56-15 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 16 after slipping and seemingly suffering a non-contact injury and wore a sleeve on her right leg during her return to action on Saturday. 

Daejah Phillips quickly opened the action with five straight points for Hawai’i before Cal Poly’s Ashley Hiraki finally got on the Mustangs on the board with a three. While the rest of UH’s squad continued to struggle scoring, Cal Poly drilled four three-pointers in total in the first quarter, three by Hiraki herself as the hosts took a 16-13 lead after 10 minutes of action. 

Hawai’i’s offense started to find a rhythm in the second period, scoring seven of the first nine points of the frame as MeiLani McBee drilled her first three to push the Rainbow Wahine in front by two with 7:18 left in the first half. Cal Poly’s Mary Carter tied the game at 20 two possessions later before UH rattled off a 12-1 run to end the half, taking a 32-21 lead into the locker room behind a nine-point quarter from McBee. The defense by Hawai’i held the Mustangs to just 2-of-15 shooting in the frame, keeping Cal Poly without another three-point make after allowing four in the first 10 minutes. 

That defense continued to work in the third quarter, holding Cal Poly to eight points over the first eight minutes of the second half as the lead remained in double digits for Hawai’i. It looked like the hosting Mustangs might close the frame with momentum into the fourth quarter after Hawai’i starting center Ritorya Tamilo went to the bench with her third foul with 1:58 left, scoring four straight points to pull within eight before Brooklyn Rewers delivered a back-breaking triple from the top of the key to maintain an 11-point lead into the final 10 minutes for UH. 

Cal Poly upped the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter, holding Hawai’i without a point for nearly six minutes before Mia ‘Uhila finished off a second opportunity with an and-one to make it 47-35. The Hawai’i defense picked up the slack for the slow offense, only allowing two points over the same span of time by dominating the glass and allowing just one offensive rebound to the ice-cold Mustangs. 

A three-pointer by Carter made it an 8-point deficit for Cal Poly with 2:43 left to play, but elite free throw shooting down the stretch between Wahinekapu, ‘Uhila and McBee shut the door on any comeback attempts as Hawai’i took down the Mustangs, 62-50. 

Sierra Lichtie led Cal Poly with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor. Mary Carter added 10 points and five rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting for the Mustangs, who fell for the third time in four Big West games this season. Annika Shah, the fourth-leading scorer in the Big West (14.9 ppg) who entered the game averaging 3.0 three-point makes per night, was held to her second-lowest scoring output of the year with five points on 1-of-11 shooting. 

Ritorya Tamilo was held without a made field goal while registering a season-low two points, grabbing eight rebounds in a tough outing for the 6-foot-5 center, who also committed eight turnovers throughout the game. Daejah Phillips finished with eight points, all in the first half, while Mia ‘Uhila chipped in nine points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.  

Hawai’i returns to the islands after salvaging a win in the final outing of a four-game road trip, hosting UC Riverside on January 9 at 7 p.m. HT as the first of a two-game homestand for the Rainbow Wahine. 

Talented new faces make strong impression in Hawai’i season-opening win over McKendree

Talented new faces make strong impression in Hawai’i season-opening win over McKendree

Jan 3, 2025

Hawai’i men’s volleyball players huddle during season-opening match against No. 20 McKendree. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Talented new faces make strong impression in Hawai’i season-opening win over McKendree

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 3, 2025

HONOLULU – Out with the old, in with the new. 

Led by strong debuts from a transfer and a few freshmen, the No. 4 University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team kicked off the 2025 season in style, winning the program’s 12th straight season-opening match under head coach Charlie Wade by dispatching the No. 20 McKendree Bearcats (0-1) in four sets – (25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22). Freshman outside hitter Adrien Roure finished his collegiate debut with a match-best 17 kills while rocketing a pair of services aces for good measure while senior outside Clay Wieter tallied 14 kills himself in his Rainbow Warrior debut.

Hawai’i returned three starters (8 total players) from last year’s 23-7 squad that finished as the 5th-best team in the country according to the final AVCA poll. While there was a solid returning base, the program was tasked with big reload after the graduation of all-time program greats Spyros Chakas and Guilherme Voss and the highly productive Alaka’i Todd and Chaz Galloway while key reserve Keoni Thiim transferred to BYU for his final season of eligibility. 

In came the 2024 recruiting class, one that had been quietly (and not-so-quietly) pumped up as an elite group with Roure playing crown jewel in a group of gemstone players with national team experiences. The Rainbow Warriors started three freshmen in Friday night’s season opener, seeing the latest Frenchman on the roster in the opening rotation along with middle blocker Ofeck Hazan and opposite Kristian Titriyski. 

Hazan came to the islands this year after becoming a member of the Israeli senior national team while Titriyski helped Bulgaria to a third-place finish in the European Championships in 2022 and was named as the Best Scorer at the 2023 U19 FIVB World Championship after totaling 161 points throughout the competition. Roure helped lead France to the country’s first-ever volleyball world title, regardless of age group or gender, in 2023 at the same U19 FIVB World Championship in Puerto Rico as the 6-foot-5 outside hitter posted 11 kills and four blocks in a four-set win over Iran in the title match. 

Wieter transferred to UH after spending the last four years at Lindenwood out of the MIVA, getting the start against a familiar McKendree squad that he played just last season while Kurt Nusterer, ‘Eleu Choy and floor captain Tread Rosenthal rounded out the first seven for Hawai’i on Friday.  

The Rainbow Warriors (1-0) jumped out to a two-point advantage by the first set’s media timeout, using four kills off the red-hot right arm of Roure to help counteract five service errors in the early going by UH. McKendree tried to slow the momentum of the hosts with an unsuccessful challenge on a net touch and a timeout on the point after but simply delayed an inevitable opening frame win for the Rainbow Warriors, 25-20. 

Roure totaled a set-high six kills on seven swings and hit a scorching .857 in the frame while fellow freshman Kristian Titriyski, who spent a large portion of the last week sick, racked up three aces to power Hawai’i to an early one-set advantage on opening night.

Teams traded scores to begin the second set before McKendree rattled off five straight points to double up Hawai’i and go up 10-5, forcing a timeout from UH head coach Charlie Wade. The breather helped the Rainbow Warriors settle back down, twisting together three points in a row and force the Bearcats to call for a timeout of their own. 

Despite the response by Hawai’i, the Rainbow Warriors were unable to overcome the early 5-0 run that gave McKendree a cushion to begin with as the Bearcats knotted the match at one set apiece with a 25-20 decision in the second frame. 

The third set saw some changes to the rotation as redshirt freshman Justin Todd and true freshman Finn Kearney opened the frame trying to provide a lift while the Rainbow Warriors worked towards consistency. The fresh legs provided a boost at the net defensively for UH, recording 4.5 blocks in the frame after having only one through the first two sets and helping get the Stan Sheriff Center crowd into the action. 

“I think the crowd had a lot to do with that comeback in that third set,” Wade said postgame. “That’s one of those that you start to feel it, [the crowd] starts getting into it and it is the wind in our sails.” 

Kearney, another one of the highly talented freshmen to come into the program during the offseason, spent time playing for the United States’ U19 national team in the offseason and helped the USA to a runner-up finish in the same U19 FIVB World Championship tournament in 2023. Even in his international travels, the freshman admitted that the fan support the team felt on opening night was special. 

Hawai’i freshman Finn Kearney attacks over the McKendree block during his college debut. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

“There’s nothing like it,” Kearney said of the atmosphere created by Hawai’i fans. “It’s magical, that’s one word I’ll use. I’ve never gotten the chills standing back there at the service line that much, I mean, it’s a different feeling for sure so that’s cool to experience.” 

Like the previous stanza, both sides traded points to a 6-6 tie in the third set before the Bearcats ripped off four points in a row to force a timeout with UH trailing 10-6. After a McKendree challenge flipped a two-point game to a four-point lead, Todd started to make his presence felt as he smashed one into the floor before getting a hand on three straight returns from the visitors to help Hawai’i slingshot ahead in the pivotal set, 15-14. 

Behind the continued cheers of the raucous SSC crowd, Hawai’i scored seven of the final nine points of the frame and erase a 20-18 disadvantage to take the third set, 25-22. Kearney, Roure and Wieter led the way in the set to secure the advantage, showing off mental fortitude in a big opening match moment and building on the flipped momentum from Justin Todd’s three kills and three blocks in the middle of the frame. 

Hawai’i jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the fourth stanza, building off the momentum of the third set with the help of the thousands of screaming voices in attendance. They would double the lead to go up 12-6 before McKendree strung together three points in a row to force a timeout from the Rainbow Warriors. 

The Bearcats continued the rampage, eventually tying the set at 16 before the Rainbow Warriors recovered and inched back ahead by two. A UH challenge on an in-or-out call helped give the hosts an important four-point advantage, 22-18, before back-to-back errors by Tread Rosenthal allowed McKendree some new life and forced a timeout from Wade. 

After an ace and an error at the service line by McKendree’s Sam Hoskin, UH’s Ofeck Hazan buried a set up from Rosenthal to give the Rainbow Warriors the first “Aloha Ball” chance of the season. While Roure couldn’t finish it, committing a service error on the next turn, Hawai’i wasted little time playing around as Kearney ended any Bearcats comeback hopes with the game-winning smash to end the fourth set, 25-22. 

Kearney and Hazan each finished with seven kills and appeared in each of the four sets played throughout the night. The two added three combined blocks as the net defense turned into offense as the match went on. 

“I think what you saw tonight is going to be relatively common in that you’ll see some really good performances and you’ll see some kind of peaks and valleys,” Wade said of his talented team’s opening night performance. “It’s nice to be able to make what could be lateral substitutions. When we’ve got a guy out there and he’s struggling a little bit, you can go to the next guy up.” 

McKendree was led by Kevin Schuele, who racked up 15 kills and eight digs for the Bearcats while teammate Sam Hoskin added 13 kills but struggled with seven errors (four service, three reception) in the loss. The 20th-ranked Bearcats will take aim at 4th-ranked Hawai’i once again on Sunday with first serve scheduled for 5:00 p.m. HT.

UC Santa Barbara survives late Hawai’i comeback to open new year

UC Santa Barbara survives late Hawai’i comeback to open new year

Jan 2, 2025

Hawai’i F Akira Jacobs battles in the post during UH’s 64-61 loss against UC Santa Barbara. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

UC Santa Barbara survives late Hawai’i comeback to open new year

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2025

HONOLULU – Short again. 

The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team dropped its sixth consecutive meeting with UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, 64-61, falling to 0-2 to begin the Big West Conference slate and 8-5 overall. UCSB guard Stephan Swenson paced all scorers, pouring in 21 points and seven assists in the win for the visiting Gauchos, who picked up the team’s first Division I win since Dec. 19 against Green Bay. 

Tanner Christensen led the effort for UH, scoring 15 points and grabbing five rebounds for his highest scoring output since mid-November against Weber State (25 points in an overtime win). Gytis Nemeikša added 13 points and eight rebounds, shooting a tidy 5-of-7 from the floor that included a putback through contact with under four seconds to play that brought the Rainbow Warriors (8-5, 0-2 Big West) within one and a last-second desperation halfcourt heave to try and force overtime. 

Duece Turner and Jason Fontenet II each scored 10 points apiece for UC Santa Barbara, who shot under 40% from the field but knocked down eight three-pointers while going 10-for-12 from the foul line to squeak out another win in the islands. The Gauchos (9-5, 1-2 Big West) have swept the Rainbow Warriors in each of the last two seasons and have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the programs. 

“Obviously, a tough game,” Hawai’i head coach Eran Ganot said after the loss. “You would love to have a couple possessions back … We were lucky [in the first half], they made five threes, but they could’ve made more … It’s never what happens at the end [of a game] but what leads up to that so there’s still growth for us [to come].” 

A look inside the Hawai’i huddle during a timeout as associate head coach Brad Davidson draws up a play. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

The teams flowed early, getting stops and trading baskets without a whistle or stoppage in play for the first nine-plus minutes of action. Hawai’i attacked the paint aggressively to begin, feeding Christensen touches down low against rare single coverage while finding the 6-foot-10 center on a few pick-and-roll sets for some nice finishes. Back-to-back hits from three-point range gave the Gauchos an 18-14 lead, finally forcing a break in the action as Ganot called for a 30-second timeout with 10:47 left before halftime. 

Hawai’i came back with a dual-point guard lineup, pairing starter Kody Williams with Aaron Hunkin-Claytor to help the offense keep pace with UCSB’s attack before eventually pulling within a point with 5:23 left before the break as Akira Jacobs drilled his lone three-pointer of the night. 

After a Cole Anderson triple pushed the Gauchos’ lead back to six, the Rainbow Warriors again responded with a quick flurry of points to pull within one before a tough finish over a good contest by Swenson gave UC Santa Barbara a three-point lead at the intermission, 31-28. 

Nemeikša scored four of the first six points for Hawai’i out of halftime before Ryan Rapp pushed the hosts ahead by two with 15:44 left in regulation with a pair of free throws, the first time since the opening minutes that UH held a lead. UC Santa Barbara would go on to score 15 straight points behind three straight makes from distance, taking a 13-point lead as the game clock ticked under 10 minutes left. 

The Rainbow Warriors finally saw a six-minute-long scoring drought end when Nemeikša got a short shot in the paint to drop with 9:42 to play, helping spark a small run that pulled UH within seven as the teams hit the under-8-minute media timeout. Six points in a row from Rapp made it a 55-52 deficit for Hawai’i with 5:17 to play, giving the sixth-year senior 10 points to become the third Rainbow Warrior on the night in double figures.

“I think the game changed when we compounded what could be a four-point swing into a 12-point swing,” Hawai’i head coach Eran Ganot said of the Gauchos’ second half run. “I felt like the group we had, not just to end the game but with Aaron [Hunkin-Claytor] and Harry [Rouhliadeff] off the bench too, they were very connected and gave us a chance … we came up a possession short.” 

The Gauchos got to the line eight times down the stretch, knocking down seven of those attempts to grip on to the one-score lead. Ryan Rapp had an open look from straightaway that would have tied it, but it caromed off the rim towards Christensen, who was fouled and went to the line for two. 

The senior big man split the pair, bringing the UH deficit down to 61-59 before Swenson returned the favor on the other end to leave the door open for the Rainbow Warriors to tie. A jumbled possession led to an errant Kody Williams three-point try that somehow made its way into the arms of Nemeikša, who muscled up a putback through some contact with just under four seconds to play to keep Hawai’i alive. 

“I’d have to look at it again,” a non-committal Ganot said when asked if he thought NemeikÅ¡a was fouled on the late putback. “The end didn’t cost us the game, the officials… you know, that wasn’t part of it. I’m just going to look at the film and I’ll trust the crew and see what… you know, look at the film.” 

Two makes at the charity stripe by Swenson gave UCSB a 64-61 lead, giving one final chance for the Rainbow Warriors to make a miracle happen to start the new year. Without a timeout, UH went to Nemeikša on the inbound and saw his halfcourt heave glance off side iron as the buzzer sounded to drop Hawai’i to the first 0-2 start to conference play since the 2016-17 season.  

Marcus Greene played a season-low 19 minutes, scoring only two points as the senior guard mustered only one made field goal for the second straight game. Kody Williams showed signs of a bounce-back game after being benched down the stretch in favor of freshman Aaron Hunkin-Claytor during UH’s win against Oakland on Christmas Day, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds but shooting just 2-of-9 from the field and hitting 1-of-6 from long distance. 

Hawai’i will face a quick turnaround, hosting Cal Poly on Saturday as the Big West schedule is in full swing. The Mustangs enter the weekend off a home 98-89 overtime loss against preseason league favorite UC Irvine and will look to bounce back in the islands with KenPom’s top Adjusted Tempo rating in the country (Cal Poly is averaging 76.9 possessions per 40 minutes, Hawai’i is tied for 300th nationally with 66.0 possessions per 40 minutes via KenPom). 

“It’s probably one of the more gauntlet-type leagues that we’ve had [in the Big West],” Ganot said of talent in the conference this season. “You saw what [Cal Poly] did with Irvine tonight … it’s a very improved program, well-coached. It’ll be a great challenge and a quick turnaround for us.” 

Shorthanded Hawai’i opens new year with loss at UC Santa Barbara

Shorthanded Hawai’i opens new year with loss at UC Santa Barbara

Jan 2, 2025

Hawai’i G MeiLani McBee goes to hand the ball off to fellow guard Jade Peacock during a home game for UH. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Shorthanded Hawai’i opens new year with loss at UC Santa Barbara

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2025

Another day, another absence. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team dropped its fifth game in the last six outings on Thursday evening, allowing a potent UC Santa Barbara offense to get comfortable with 10 three-pointers on the way to a 72-62 loss for the Rainbow Wahine. Imani Perez missed her first game of the season, joining injured UH teammates Jovi Lefotu, Kelsie Imai and Danijela Kujovic in street clothes as the four rotation players watched the Rainbow Wahine get dominated on the glass.  

The loss marks the sixth straight time that Hawai’i (6-6, 0-2 Big West) has fallen inside the Thunderdome, last beating the Gauchos in Santa Barbara in February 2021. The two programs have split the usual two regular season matchups for the last five years, last seeing one side sweep in the 2018-19 season when Hawai’i both meetings by double-digits.

With another absence, Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman turned to another different starting lineup as Daejah Phillips returned to the first five alongside three other guards in Lily Wahinekapu, Jade Peacock and MeiLani McBee. Freshman center Ritorya Tamilo rounded out the starting lineup but played only 16 minutes, tied for her second-shortest outing of the season for the Rainbow Wahine. 

Cayla Williams led the charge for UC Santa Barbara, scoring a team-high 14 points off the bench while drilling 3-of-4 from distance as five different Gauchos finished in double figures. Alyssa Marin, the Big West’s leading scorer entering the game with over 17 points per game, was held to 10 points (8-of-8 FT) and only one made field goal attempt (1-of-7 overall) but became the fourth active Big West women’s basketball player to surpass the 1,000-point threshold for her career with that singular make. 

Despite Marin’s milestone coming in the opening minutes of the game, it was Hawai’i holding a slim 9-8 lead after five minutes of action as Brooklyn Rewers cashed in on the first three-point make from either side. The Gauchos (8-5, 2-1 Big West) blitzed the Rainbow Wahine out of the media timeout, using a 10-4 run to close the frame to enter the second quarter up by a handful. 

With Tamilo tacked to the bench for the entirety of the second period with a pair of personal fouls, UC Santa Barbara continued the attack of the glass and drained four more three-pointers to help extend the to as much as 12 for the Gauchos before the break. Wahinekapu finished a layup with 30 seconds left in the quarter to bring the Rainbow Wahine within 10 and came up with a steal in the closing seconds of the half but couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer sounded on the half as UH went into the locker room down 37-27. 

The Gauchos’ hot shooting continued through the break in the action as the hosts drilled four more triples in the third quarter, fending off multiple UH attempts to pull the game within a couple of possessions with timely makes from distance. After falling down by as many as 15, the Rainbow Wahine pulled within single digits with a 9-2 run, but Martha Pietsch calmed things down for UCSB with her only three-pointer of the night to make it a 47-36 lead for the hosts with three minutes left in the quarter. 

Hawai’i responded with three straight free throws to make it an eight-point deficit again, but back-to-back threes from Cayla Williams gave the Gauchos the momentum as the game rolled over into the fourth quarter. Williams opened the final 10 minutes with a three-point play the old-fashioned way before teammate Jessica Grant connected on her fourth triple of the night to give UCSB its biggest lead of the game at 16 points, forcing a fast timeout by Laura Beeman less than three minutes into the final period. 

The Rainbow Wahine continued to fight, getting to the line and making free throws to try and mount a comeback before ultimately falling to the firepower of the Gauchos, 72-62. It marks the fifth time the Hawai’i has allowed 70 or more points to an opponent this season; the Rainbow Wahine are now 0-5 in such games. 

Lily Wahinekapu paced UH with a game-high 17 points, playing a season-high 37 minutes with the injuries decimating the Rainbow Wahine guard depth. Daejah Phillips added 13 points and seven rebounds in the loss, shooting an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor in 30 minutes of work as she became the 12th Rainbow Wahine basketball player to eclipse the 1,200-point mark for a career. 

Mia ‘Uhila played a season-high 27 minutes off the bench for Hawai’i, turning in her first double-digit scoring performance of the year with 12 points to go along with three rebounds. The senior guard got to the line seven times, hitting on six attempts as she made her case to be part of the solution to the current UH injury woes. 

Hawai’i returns to action quickly, visiting Cal Poly on Saturday for an 11 a.m. HT/1 p.m. PT tip-off in search of a split and the first road win for the Rainbow Wahine since Nov. 9 at Portland State. The Mustangs enter Saturday at 6-7 overall and 1-2 in Big West play after falling at UC Irvine on Thursday, 60-38.