HONOLULU — Coming off back-to-back Big West championships, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team went back to work on Thursday with the official start of practice for the 2023-24 season.
 
The drive for a third straight postseason berth began in full with the first session in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center for a Rainbow Wahine roster led by 11 returnees from last season's conference title team.
 
"It's really exciting," said guard Ashley Thoms, the team's lone senior. "The past two years have been incredible and the progress that we've already made this year, and to see it all come together quicker than the years before is really cool to see."
 
The Rainbow Wahine persevered through a roller-coaster 2022-23 regular season and several key injuries to put together another memorable run through the Big West Tournament, culminating with a comeback victory over UC Santa Barbara in the championship game at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev. They closed the season by facing eventual national champion LSU in Baton Rouge, La., in the program's a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
The team celebrated those memories at the "Hoopla" event on Tuesday, when the returnees were presented with their championship rings. Their focus quickly returned to the season ahead with the start of practice on Thursday.
 
"We've been training since mid-summer, now that we get to go into official practice I can't wait to put all the pieces together," junior guard Lily Wahinekapu said.
 
Wahinekapu returns for her second year in the program after being named to the All-Big West first team last season. Daejah Phillips, a junior guard, was an honorable mention selection and picked up Big West Tournament MVP honors after scoring the go-ahead layup in the final. They're part of a backcourt that also returns Thoms, juniors Kelsie Imai, MeiLani McBee and Olivia Davies. Sophomore Jovi Lefotu was also a key contributor before suffering a knee injury and continues to work her way back to action.
 
Forward Imani Perez averaged 10.3 points over the last eight games of her freshman season and is joined in the frontcourt by three newcomers in Brooklyn Rewers, a transfer from Michigan State, and freshmen Vivienne Berrett and Brooke Murrell. Jade Peacock, a 6-foot guard, is also among the four additions to the roster this season.
 
"Our incoming kids have picked up our stuff very, very quickly," UH coach Laura Beeman said. "They are listening to not only coaches, which is amazing, but they're listening to their teammates. We have a lot of people wrapping arms around them, helping them grow their IQ, helping them grow their experience."
 
The Rainbow Wahine face Hawai'i Hilo in an exhibition game on Nov. 1 at the Stan Sheriff Center. They open the regular-season schedule a week later by taking on Pac-12 power Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., and also face Santa Clara on the Northern California road trip.
 
They'll make their home debut in the Bank of Hawai'i Classic and face San Francisco on Nov. 17 and Idaho on Nov. 19.
 
"What's been really fun for me to sit back and watch is they have set the tone of, 'we are going to work hard,'" Beeman said. "They have set the tone of wanting to do something again, and there's no begging right now from coaches. The attitude, the energy, the effort is there. We're throwing the Xs and Os on the floor but they're bringing the stuff that really matters and that's really fun to coach."