LAS VEGAS – The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team will take part in the 2017 Duel in the Desert this December, where the Rainbow Wahine will face Texas A&M on Dec. 20 and Oregon on Dec. 22 at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. Both games will tip-off at 10:00 a.m. HT.
The 'Bows, Aggies and Ducks will compete for the Desert Division title in the six team event, while 2017 national runner-up Mississippi State, 2016 national runner-up Syracuse, and host UNLV will play their own round-robin for the Rebel Division title.
"We are excited to participate in the Duel in the Desert Tournament," head coach
Laura Beeman said. "We feel the experiences of traveling, high level of competition and tournament format will help prepare us for conference. It will also further prepare us for our ultimate goal of post season competition."
The Rainbow Wahine are 1-1 all-time against Texas A&M. UH lost to the then No. 12 Aggies in 2015-16 after picking up a win in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 2005-06.
UH and Oregon will square off for the sixth time in program history, and the second consecutive season. Hawai'i owns a 3-2 all-time record against the Ducks, who picked up their first win over UH since 1979 last season. UH earned wins over Oregon in 1988, 1993, and 2012.
Oregon reached the 2017 Elite Eight in 2017 while Texas A&M advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. UH missed the NCAA tournament last season after earning a bid in 2016.
Cox Pavilion, which is the home of UNLV women's basketball and holds 2,500 fans, opened in 2001 and is connected to the Thomas & Mack Center. FloHoops will stream all of the tournament games live at
www.FloHoops.com.
