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HONOLULU – The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (3-0, 0-0 Big West) opened the 2015 Bank of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine Classic on Friday night with a 65-51 win over Loyola Marymount (0-3, 0-0 Westcoast Conference) at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After a messy first half, the Rainbow Wahine managed to pull together to overtake the Lions for their third-straight win to start the season. Despite a rough LMU defense (12 steals) and 24 UH turnovers, the 'Bows were able to stay consistent at the free throw line throughout, finishing the night with a .711 FT% (27-38) to make up nearly half of their total points.
Senior center
Connie Morris led the Rainbow Wahine with 16-points (6-8 FGs, 4-5 FTs), four rebounds, and two blocks, while
Sarah Toeaina (13-pts, 4-6 FGs, 5-6 FTs, four rebounds) and
Destiny King (12-pts, 6-6 FTs, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals) also reached the double-digit points for UH.
UH ran into a rough patch at the start of the first quarter after suffering a four-minute scoring drought as LMU pulled ahead. Following a jumper by
Destiny King, the 'Bows climbed back with a nine-point run to take back the lead, 13-10. With each team matching shot for shot at the free throw line, UH rounded off the first period tied 17-17 with the Lions. Despite giving away seven points to LMU off of turnovers, the Rainbow Wahine did not falter once at the free throw line (5-5-1.000).
After an even contest throughout most of the second quarter, UH was able to break away after Morris scored seven-straight points, fuelling a 9-1 run for a 34-26 advantage by halftime.
From there, UH never looked back, finishing off the game strong, with 17 points off of LMU turnovers, eight fast-break points, while boxing the Lions out 44-33 in rebounds.
UH concludes the BOH Rainbow Wahine Classic on Sunday night as they face the Pac-12's Washington State (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at 4:00 p.m.HT at the Stan Sheriff Center. Earlier today, the Cougars defeated Nevada, 70-57 in the tournament opener.
