HONOLULU – The historic season for the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team continued with the Big West Conference office naming graduate forward Amy Atwell as the conference player of the year and head coach Laura Beeman as the conference coach of the year.
 
Atwell becomes the first player in program history to be awarded the Big West Player of the Year honor over the Rainbow Wahine's two stints in the conference. All-time leading scorer Judy Mosley was named the PCAA Co-Player of the Year for the 1989-90 season. While a member of the Western Athletic Conference, Nani Cockett was named the Pacific Division player of the year for the 1997-98  season, followed by Raylene Howard winning it in back-to-back seasons, first in the Pacific Division for the 1998-99 season and later the conference Co-Player of the Year in 1999-00.
 
The 2021-22 campaign has been one for the records regarding Atwell and her achievements. She led the conference in scoring with 17.9 points per game, second in free throw percentage at 84%, fourth in field goal percentage at  44%, and sixth in rebounding with six a game. She recorded two 30 points games, 11 games of 20 points or more, 17 double-digit scoring games, including a stretch of 10 in a row, and five double-doubles. Atwell was also named conference player of the year for a program record four times this season.
 
After being picked fourth in the media poll and fifth in the coaches' preseason poll, Beeman led the 'Bows to their first regular-season championship since 2015. As a result, she was awarded as Big West Coach of the Year for the second time at UH.
 
The win total of 13 against conference opponents is the second-highest in one season for Beeman. The only other year she recorded more was when she won the award the first time in 2015 with 14 wins. The 'Bows finished the regular season on a mission, winning 10 of their last 11 games, including a six-game win streak to close out the schedule.
 
On top of being named player of the year, Atwell was named to the conference First-Team for the first time in her career. Before 2022, she was awarded Sixth Man of the Year, All-Conference Second Team, and an Honorable Mention.
 
Freshman guard Daejah Phillips rounded out the awards as she was selected as an Honorable Mention. Phillips, the Sixth Man of the Year last season, was second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game, playing in 23 of 26 games.
 
UH will begin its journey towards the program's third-ever conference tournament championship on Wednesday at 10 a.m. HT against either #8 CSUN or #9 CSU Bakersfield.