LONG BEACH, Calif. — Two University of Hawai'i seniors reached career milestones to help the Rainbow Wahine basketball team extend its winning streak to 12 with a 72-65 win over Long Beach State on Thursday at the Gold Mine in Long Beach, Calif.
UH guard
Lily Wahinekapu scored the game's first two points to become the 25
th member of the program's 1,000-point club on her way to a 14-point performance. Fellow senior
Kelsie Imai added a season-high 11 points and fed Wahinekapu for two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to surpass 300 assists for her career and the Rainbow Wahine (18-6, 12-2 Big West) avenged a loss to the Beach (12-11, 8-6) back in December.
Imai also set a season high with seven rebounds, dished out three assists, and went 9 for 12 from the free-throw line. Senior
MeiLani McBee hit two 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 10 points while also contributing a season-high four steals and two blocks to UH's defensive effort. Freshman center
Ritorya Tamilo complemented the production of the backcourt seniors with a team-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
With UH's win and second-place UC Irvine's loss at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, the 'Bows extended their lead over the Anteaters (16-7, 10-3) atop the Big West standings to 1 ½ games going into their meeting on Saturday in Irvine, Calif.
Thursday's game was moved from the Walter Pyramid to the Gold Mine due to heavy rain in the Long Beach area and UH overcame a nine-point second quarter deficit to earn a split of the regular-season series with the Beach, which opened conference play with an overtime win in Mānoa on Dec. 7.
UH tied a season high with 24 turnovers, 14 coming in the first half as Long Beach State built a nine-point lead in the second quarter. But the 'Bows stormed back with a 21-point third quarter and held the Beach to 2-for-17 shooting in the fourth quarter, including an 0-for-9 showing from 3-point range, on their way to the win.
UH shot 54% from the field in the first half, but Long Beach State forced 14 UH turnovers, nine coming on Beach steals, and built a 13-6 advantage in points off of takeaways.
Long Beach State took a 17-10 lead in the first quarter but UH ended the quarter with layups from
Mia 'Uhila and Wahinekapu to cut the deficit to 19-16. The 'Bows extended the run to 10-2 early in the second quarter and took a 22-21 lead on two Tamilo free throws.
Long Beach State went back up on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jada Crawshaw and Patricia Chung and led by as many as nine. UH scored the final four points of the half to go into the break trailing 38-33.
Savannah Tucker, who led the Beach with 19 points, scored LBSU's first eight points of the third quarter and her second 3-pointer gave the Beach a 46-39 lead. UH responded with an 8-0 run and reclaimed the lead with a layup by
Brooklyn Rewers.
The 'Bows took a 54-53 lead into the final period and LBSU went back up 57-54 early in the fourth. Tamilo scored inside to cut the lead to one and UH moved back ahead when Imai and McBee combined to hit three free throws after a foul and a technical foul were whistled against the Beach.
UH held LBSU without a field goal for more than eight minutes while stretching the lead to nine on Wahinekapu's 3-pointer with 48 seconds left and the 'Bows finished off the win.
The Rainbow Wahine close out the road trip with a showdown against UC Irvine on Saturday at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Pacific Time (noon Hawai'i Time).
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