HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team placed first in the 2024-25 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll and two Rainbow Wahine seniors were voted to the Preseason Coaches' Team.

The Big West announced the results of the poll of the conference's 11 coaches on Tuesday and the Rainbow Wahine edged UC Irvine by a single point to top the preseason poll for the third straight year. UH, the defending Big West regular-season champion, received six first-place votes and tallied 96 points. UC Irvine, which captured the conference tournament title, drew five first-place votes and 95 points in the voting.
 
UH guards Daejah Phillips and Lily Wahinekapu earned places on the preseason coaches team for the second straight year after earning all-conference honors last season.
 
Phillips was named to the All-Big West first team last season after averaging 10.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, and was named the Big West Sixth Player of the Year for the second time in her career. Wahinekapu was an All-Big West second-team pick last season and led the team with 11.6 points per game overall and 13.0 ppg in conference games. 
 
Phillips and Wahinekapu are among 10 retuning letterwinners from a 2023-24 team that finished the season at 20-11 overall and 17-3 in Big West play. UH captured the Big West regular-season title and earned a spot in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.
 
The Rainbow Wahine will face Hawai'i Hilo in an exhibition game in Hilo on Oct. 27 and open the regular season on Nov. 7 at Portland. They'll make their home debut on Nov. 22 against Louisiana Monroe in the Bank of Hawai'i Classic at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
2024-25 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rank	Team	Points (1st place)
1.	Hawai'i	96 (6)
2.	UC Irvine	95 (5)
3.	UC Davis	81
4.	Long Beach State	63
5.	Cal Poly	61
6.	UC San Diego	60
7.	UC Santa Barbara	52
8.	UC Riverside	40
9.	Cal State Fullerton	25
10.	Cal State Bakersfield	18
11.	CSUN	14

2024-25 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Team

Player	Year	Position	Team
Deja Lee	Senior	Guard	UC Irvine
Alyssa Marin	5th year	Guard	UC Santa Barbara
Daejah Phillips	5th year	Guard	Hawai'i
Tova Sabel	5th year	Guard	UC Davis
Sumayah Sugapong	Sophomore	Guard	UC San Diego
Lily Wahinekapu	Senior	Guard	Hawai'i