HONOLULU — University of Hawai'i guard Daejah Phillips was named the Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday after helping the Rainbow Wahine sweep their homestand and claim sole possession of first place in the conference.
 
Phillips, a junior from Las Vegas, earned the Big West honor for the first time in her career. She's also the first UH player to be named conference Player of the Week since Amy Atwell picked up the award four times in the 2021-22 season, the last coming on Feb. 14, 2022.
 
Phillips opened the week by scoring a season-high 22 points in UH's 66-61 win over Cal State Fullerton last Thursday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. She shot 9 for 16 from the field and took over in the fourth quarter — scoring 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting in the final 10 minutes — to power the 'Bows past the Titans. Phillips finished with UH's highest individual point total of the season and also sparked the 'Bows on the defensive end with a team-high three steals.
 
Phillips then turned in an all-around performance against UC Irvine on Saturday in a matchup for the top spot in the conference. Phillips scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and distributed three assists while committing just one turnover in the 55-43 victory over the Anteaters. She drew six fouls and went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
 
For the season, Phillips ranks second on the team with 9.7 points per game overall and 10.7 in Big West play.  She leads UH with 44 assists and 30 steals and is shooting 83% from the free-throw line, all while coming off the bench.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (12-8, 9-2 Big West) sit alone in first place in the conference entering this week's Big West road trip. UH faces UC San Diego (10-12, 6-5) at 7 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Hawai'i Time) on Thursday in La Jolla, Calif. The trip continues to UC Davis (11-10, 7-4) on Saturday for a 2 p.m. (noon HT) meeting with the Aggies in Davis, Calif.