Honolulu—Junior forward
Amy Atwell proved to be the difference-maker for the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team scoring the final seven points in the 61-58 win over San Diego State on Tuesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
With the game tied at 54-54, Atwell hit a layup off an assist from senior guard
Courtney Middap, SDSU tied the contest up again at 56-56 in the following position. Atwell came down on the next position, pulled down an offensive rebound, kicked out to freshman guard
Nae Nae Calhoun, then took a pass from Calhoun at the top of the key hitting a three for the 59-56 advantage with 30 seconds to play in regulation.
After a made layup by SDSU to cut the lead to one, Atwell came up clutch again, hitting two from the free-throw line with six seconds on the clock. Following an Aztecs' timeout, junior guard
Jadynn Alexander locked down the perimeter, forcing an off balance three as time expired for the final.
The Rainbow Wahine (1-0) claimed the program's first season-opening win since 2015 and returned the favor of a one-point loss on the road last season at SDSU. The Aztecs (0-1) continued their stretch of season-opening losses by dropping their sixth in a row.
"Shooters shoot," said head coach
Laura Beeman. "We came out tonight playing aggressively, and it set the tone early. I'm not a fan of shooting 6-for-31 from three, but we have a team of shooters, the key is for them to have confidence in their shots, and we had that tonight. It was proven with how Amy (Atwell) was shooting, and how Lauren (Rewers) played tonight."
Atwell notched her first career double-double totaling 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. While Rewers finished with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double, she also hit 2-of-4 from beyond the arch for her first career three-point buckets.
Calhoun turned in an impressive debut performance playing 27 minutes at the point guard position, accumulating three points, three rebounds, and three assists, but only allowed one turnover on the night.
UH will go on the road for its next two contests by visiting Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and will continue to Pepperdine for a matchup on Friday, Nov. 15.
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