For the second straight year, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team tops the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll with two Rainbow Wahine guards — Lily Wahinekapu and Daejah Phillips — voted to the Preseason Coaches' Team.
 
The Big West released the poll on Wednesday and the two-time defending Big West champion Rainbow Wahine received six of 11 first-place votes from the conference's coaches and posted 95 points to lead the poll for the third time since rejoining the conference in 2012. UC Irvine placed second with 88 points and two first-place votes followed by UC Davis (85 points, three first-place votes).
 
UH was voted first in last year's poll after pairing the Big West's regular-season and championship titles in 2021-22. The 'Bows weathered mid-season injuries to enter the Big West Women's Basketball Championship as the third seed then put together a dramatic run through the bracket — capped by a comeback from a 15-point deficit in the final against UC Santa Barbara — to retain the title and earn back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 1989 and '90 seasons.
 
Wahinekapu and Phillips earned All-Big West honors last year and were voted to this season's Preseason Coaches Team.
 
Wahinekapu, a junior, led the Rainbow Wahine with 12.5 points and 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game in her first year at UH and was named to the All-Big West first team last season. She also ranked second on the team with 45 made 3-pointers and scored in double figures 24 times while starting all 33 games.
 
Phillips, also a junior, averaged 11.1 points and 3.9 rebounds and closed the season by scoring in double figures in each of the last nine games. The high point of that run came in the Big West Championship final when she scored 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field, including the go-ahead layup with three seconds left. Phillips was an All-Big West honorable mention pick after the regular season and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Big West Championship.
  
Phillips and Wahinekapu are among 11 letterwinners returning off of last year's team. Starting guards Kelsie Imai and MeiLani McBee also return along with senior Ashley Thoms and forward Imani Perez, a member of the Big West's All-Freshman team last season. The class of newcomers includes 6-foot-4 Michigan State transfer Brooklyn Rewers.
 
The Rainbow Wahine play host to Hawai'i Hilo in an exhibition game on Nov. 1 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center and open the regular season on Nov. 8 at Stanford.

2023-24 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll

Rank	Team	Points (1st place)
1	Hawai'i	95 (6)
2	UC Irvine	88 (2)
3	UC Davis	85 (3)
4	UC Santa Barbara	65
T5	Cal State Fullerton	59
T5	UC San Diego	59
7	Long Beach State	45
8	Cal Poly	42
9	Cal State Bakersfield	25
10	UC Riverside	24
11	CSUN	18

2023-24 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Team

Player	Year	Position	Team
Fujika Nimmo	Sr.	Guard	Cal State Fullerton
Daejah Phillips	Jr.	Guard	Hawai'i
Tova Sabel	Sr.	Guard	UC Davis
Nikki Tom	Jr.	Guard	UC Irvine
Evanne Turner	Sr.	Guard	UC Davis
Lily Wahinekapu	Jr.	Guard	Hawai'i