LONG BEACH, Calif. — The second-ranked University of Hawai'i women's water polo team clinched a share of the Big West regular-season championship with a 13-6 victory over No. 7 Long Beach State on Sunday at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center in Long Beach, Calif.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (18-3, 6-0 Big West) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter on their way to securing the program's sixth Big West regular-season title and third in the last four years. UH also claimed the No. 1 seed in the Big West Championship set for April 26-28 in Davis, Calif.
 
UH center Bia Mantellato Dias posted her 10^th hat trick of the season and finished with four goals. Lucia Gomez de la Puente, Bernadette Doyle and Agatha Weston scored twice each and UH won its 12^th straight meeting with Long Beach State (19-7, 4-1).
 
Doyle came up with four steals on the defensive end, freshman Daisy Logtens made six saves and UH has held all six of its Big West opponents to single-digit scoring and has outscored its conference foes 88-36.
 
UH won the season's first meeting between the teams 17-8 on Feb. 24 in a non-conference matchup in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif. The Beach entered the rematch on an 11-game winning streak, but UH broke out to a fast start and had yet to trail in Big West play this season.
 
UH scored on its second and third possessions of the game with Gomez de la Puente pounding in the first goal of the day and Doyle scoring in transition 23 seconds later. Mantellato Dias took a feed from Morgan Rios to score in the middle to give UH a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
 
UH extended the lead when Weston's long-range shot deflected off the hand of LBSU goalie Chelsea Oliver and floated into the goal. The Beach came up empty on its four shots in the period and UH posted a first-quarter shutout for the fourth time in six Big West games.
 
Mantellato Dias converted on a power play 17 seconds into the second quarter before Long Beach State broke through with its first goal at the 6:19 mark of the period. Mantellato Dias answered by completing her hat trick to give UH a 6-2 cushion. Alba Bonamusa Boix fired in her 40^th goal of the season from the top with one second left to send the 'Bows into halftime with a 7-3 lead.
 
Long Beach State opened the third quarter with a penalty shot by former UH player Lara Luka and a goal by Elisa Portillo cut UH's lead to two. Gomez de la Puente then lobbed a shot over Oliver for her second goal of the day and Jordan Wedderburn skipped in a penalty shot to stretch the UH lead back to 9-5.
 
Bonamusa Boix dropped a pass to Lot Stertefeld who scored from the left side to push UH into double digits for the fifth straight game. Mantellato Dias converted on a penalty shot for her fourth goal and Doyle added her second and UH closed out the win.
 
The Rainbow Wahine close the regular season on Saturday, April 13 against UC Santa Barbara at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex. UH will honor Bonamusa Boix, Gomez de la Puente, Stertefeld and Emma Gurasich in the Senior Night ceremony. The regular-season finale will also mark the final home match for head coach Maureen Cole, who will retire from coaching following the season.