HONOLULU-- The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team will be back in action against visiting UNLV Sunday afternoon as a part of a doubleheader with men's basketball inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

GM 8 | HAWAI'I (1-6, 0-0) VS. UNLV (8-1, 0-0)
Date | Time				Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022 2:00 p.m. HT
Location				Honolulu, Oahu - SimpliFi Arena
Television				Spectrum Sports
Live Stream				ESPN +
Radio				ESPN Honolulu
Tickets				All Games
Live Stats				hawaiiathletics.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i | UNLV
Social Media				@HawaiiWBB | #HawaiiWBB | @hawaiiwbb | Facebook
Promotions				First Hawaiian Bank is the sponsor of Sunday's UH Alumni Recognition game and will distribute 200 Rally Towels prior to the event at Gate A.  The Rainbow Wahine Basketball team will honor former women's basketball alumnae throughout the game.  In the spirit of the Christmas season, UH Athletics in partnership with Toys for Tots will be collecting new and/or unwrapped toys to distribute as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community. Fans are encouraged to donate toys from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Gate A.  Visit the sports marketing table (located near Gate A) to register to participate in the halftime promotional contest for the chance to win Foodland gift certificates and T-shirts.  Adult tickets are $7, Seniors (ages 65+) are $5, and youth (ages 4 - high school) are free.

NEWS & NOTES

• Sunday will mark the first game for UH in 14 days, the last being a 68-39 loss to No. 2 Stanford in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Nov. 27^th. The two-week span will be the longest stretch this season between games.
• UH is coming off a stretch of five games in nine days (Nov. 18-27) over two tournaments.
• The 'Bows played a combined eight games, including an exhibition in November, with six being at home in SimpliFi Arena. In December, UH will play four games and only one at home.
• Graduate center Kallin Spiller has wiped the backboard clean in the early going, averaging 8.4 rebounds per game, ranking her second amongst Big West players. She recently had a streak of five games where she ripped away double-digit boards; the line ended against the tall trees of Stanford, where she captured a season-low one rebound.
• Only three players have started every game this season for the 'Bows, sophomores Daejah Spiller and Lily Wahinekapu, along with Spiller. All three are averaging 20-plus minutes, with Phillips averaging a team-high 31 minutes per game. The only other player averaging 20-plus minutes is sophomore Kelsie Imai, who has started in four of the seven games.
• Phillips continues to pick up the slack offensively, averaging a team-high 13.3 points per game, ranking her at No. 8 in the Big West. In five of seven games, she has scored double-digits, including a career-high 25 points on the road at Portland on November 9^th.
• UNLV has been a consistent nonconference opponent in recent memory, as Sunday will mark the third meeting between the two teams since 2018. The Runnin' Rebels took last year's game in Las Vegas, 70-63, where Amy Atwell dropped 28 points. UH took the previous contest in 2018, also in Las Vegas, 66-61 in overtime.
   

THE QUEEN AND THE CHILDREN SAID IT BEST
Champions play champions, and sometimes, the best result is being a survivor. The non-conference schedule has been a test for UH, and they've shown they won't give up and won't be stopped. In the first eight games, the 'Bows will have played three conference champions, Stanford (Pac-12), Florida Gulf Coast twice (ASUN), and now UNLV (Mountain West). Plus, Portland and Oregon State were post-season tournament teams in the WNIT. UH is 0-5 but looking to bounce back against UNLV.
 
FIRST TO 70 WINS
Offensively, UH has had its struggles, scoring on average 54 points per game; in comparison against the 10 other Big West Teams, the 'Bows' rank No. 7 in scoring offense. A season ago, UH ranked No. 2 among conference teams at 64.9 points a game, and when they eclipsed 70 points, their record stood out at 11-1.
 
THE TRANSFORMATION OF EBENEZER
Since the 2018-19 season, November has not been a friendly month for head coach Laura Beeman and the 'Bows. Excluding the 2020-21 season due to COVID and a late start, UH has gone 1-8 (2018), 3-4 (2019), 2-5 (2020), and this season at 1-6. But traditionally, the month of December has been much better, 3-2 (2018), 3-3 (2019), and 1-1 (2021). Followed by January being an even better month with the start of conference action, 3-3 (2019), 4-3 (2020), and 5-2 (2022). Simply put, UH is similar to that of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol." Once three ghosts visit him, his personality changes from a miserable person to a caring individual trying to spread the Christmas spirit. Once UH crosses into December, they begin to change for the better.