HONOLULU-- The University of Hawai'i women's basketball claimed its first regular season championship since 2015, and now has an opportunity to capture its first tournament title since 2016. The Hercules Tires Big West Women's Basketball Championship, presented by the Hawaiian Airlines is set to begin on Tuesday, with the Rainbow Wahine awaiting their opponent for a 10 a.m. HT tip for Wednesday at The Dollar Loan Center.
NEWS & NOTES
- In a 58-52 win over UC Santa Barbara in the regular-season finale, the 'Bows became the first team in six years to be crowned Big West regular-season champs not named UC Davis. The title is the second under head coach Laura Beeman in her 10 years at the helm.
- UH will take on the winner of #8 CSUN and #9 CSU Bakersfield. The 'Bows are a combined 5-0 against the two teams this season.
- The 'Bows last won a conference tournament title in 2016 and have only won two in program history. The other came in 1996 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
- Graduate forward Amy Atwell was named Big West Conference Player of the Year, becoming the first Rainbow Wahine to ever receive the honor in the program's two stints in the conference.
- Beeman received the honor of being named Coach of the Year in the Big West for the second time in her career, with her first coming in the 2014-15 season.
- UH went a combined 13-3 versus the Big West for a .812 win percentage in the 2021-22 campaign. One of the three losses came to UC Santa Barbara on the road, and the other two were against UC San Diego. The Tritons are not a part of the tournament as they're currently in transition of becoming a full member of the conference. As a result, UH is 13-1 against the tournament field.
WHAT AN HONOR
In the history of the Rainbow Wahine basketball program, very few players have been given the honor of being named Play of the Year like
Amy Atwell. The program's all-time leading scorer Judy Mosley was named Co-Player of the Year of the PCAA for the 1989-90 season. As a member of the WAC, UH recorded three consecutive years of a player receiving the honor. Nani Cockett was named the WAC Pacific Division player of the year for the 1997-98 season, followed by Raylene Howard winning it in back-to-back season, first in the Pacific Division (1998-99) and later the conference Co-Player of the Year (1999-00'). Atwell is the first 'Bow to win the high honor in the Big West.
SHE DESERVES IT
After being picked fourth in the media poll and fifth in the coaches preseason poll, head coach
Laura 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. Legendary head coach Vinco Goo was named Coach of the Year on three different occasions from 1987 to 2004.
PREPARING TO TAKE OVER
The growth of
Daejah Phillips has had its ups and downs, but lately, Phillips has seen more highs than the lows of a second-year player. Phillips is second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game, including scoring double-digits in four of her last six games. Recently Phillips was selected as a Big West Honorable Mention after being named the conference Sixth Man of the Year last season.
CLIMBING THE RANKINGS
Since joining the 1,000 point club on January 22nd, Atwell has been working her way up the all-time scoring chart at UH, recently cracking the top-10 at 1,202. Former teammate Sarah Toeiana sits just ahead of her at No. 8 with 1,204. At No. 7 is another former six-year player like Atwell in Shawna Lei-Kuehu with 1,245.
THERE'S ONLY ONE QUEEN
On February 5th, in front of her home crowd at SimpliFi Arena, Atwell drained a step-back three in the fourth quarter of a 76-57 win against UC Riverside, making her the all-time three-point queen in Rainbow Wahine basketball history. Atwell keeps adding to her all-time mark at 192 and counting.
LOVE THY THREE-BALL
Atwell has attempted 509 three-pointers going into the Big West Championship Tournament, putting her at No. 2 all-time. The only other player to attempt 500 or more threes at UH is Megan Tinnin with 526. Even more astonishing is her career shooting percentage currently sits at .377, now No. 2 in the UH record book. As it stands, Atwell is the only student-athlete to finish in the top three of career makes, attempts, and three-point shooting percentage at UH.
SHE'S DOING WHAT NOW?!?!
Atwell has put herself in rarefied air as one of the elite players to ever play for the Rainbow Wahine. She is the first 'Bow to average better than 17 points per game in a single season in over 20 years by averaging 17.9 points per game. Only two players have averaged 18 points or better as a senior in program history. Judy Mosley averaged 25.7 points per game in 1989-90, and Nani Cockett averaged 19.4 in 1997-1998.
CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
HUSTLE AND MOTIVATED
The 'Bows have now won five regular-season conference championships, four in the Big West Conference (1992-93', 1993-94', 2014-15', 2021-22) and one in the WAC (1997-98). The program has two tournament championships (1996 & 2016) in the Big West. After claiming the regular-season title in the last game of the regular season, half the mission is complete to try and be the first team in program history to win both championships in the same year.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CLIMB
Much like their viral social media video claimed after the 'Bows road win over Cal Poly, it's all about the climb. UH has been one of the few teams that challenged UC Davis in championship gold over the last few seasons. The 'Bows and Aggies battled in the conference tournament's semifinals a year ago, with UCD coming out on top. In 2020, UH was riding momentum heading into the tournament after a slow start in conference play. Following their quarterfinals win over Cal State Fullerton, the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UH made their way to the championship game in 2019, their first appearance since they won it all in 2016, but a lead in the second half fell apart as UH came up short to the Aggies.
TEARS AND CHEERS
Beeman took over the program before the 2012-13 season, the three years prior under head coach Dana Takaha-Dias, UH was a combined 32-58, including a 17-27 record against WAC opponents. In 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns, Beeman made UH a contender in the Big West, going 23-11 over her first two seasons. In year three, the 'Bows went 14-2 in conference play for Beeman's first regular-season championship, but the 'Bows were upset in the tournament championship game by CSUN. The following year UH had something to prove as they went 12-4, finishing No. 2 in the conference. The 'Bows took care of business with a convincing 78-59 win over UC Davis for the program's second conference tournament title and their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 17 seasons.
JUST DANCE
UH has earned 16 national postseason tournament bids since the program came to be in 1974. The first was a trip to the NCAA tournament that came under head coach Vince Goo in 1989. In Goo's 17 seasons as the head coach, the 'Bows went to five NCAA tournaments and five WNITs. UH went nine years without a national postseason bid, spanning from 2003 to 2012. In Beeman's first four seasons, UH went to the WNIT three straight years and the NCAA tournament in her fourth. The last postseason bid for the program was after the 2018-19 season when UH went to the WNIT for a fourth time under Beeman.
BRING THE NOISE
Postseason success on the national stage isn't easy for mid-majors, but when it happens, it's memorable. In Goo's five NCAA tournament appearances, UH picked up one victory in the "Big Dance," It came in the first round against Montana in 1990 with an 83-78 victory in Missoula, Montana. The 'Bows are a combined 1-6 in the NCAA Tournament and have lost five straight since the win in 1990. Three of the six have been decided by 10 points or less.
LET'S TALK WNIT
In 11 appearances at the WNIT, UH has gone 5-13 overall. The program's first invite came in 1983 under head coach Jerry Busone, while Goo took UH five times and Beeman four times. The most successful stint in the tournament came in 1992 when UH made a run to the finals picking up wins over Florida International and Arkansas State before falling to Georgia Tech. Nine years later, in 2001, Goo took the 'Bows on another run, picking up three wins in the tournament, all taking place in Honolulu, O'ahu at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH knocked off Santa Clara 73-57 in the first round, picked up a second-round overtime win against BYU 77-73, followed by a quarterfinals win over Oklahoma State 52-51. The magical run ended in the semifinals with a 68-43 loss at New Mexico.
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