IRVINE, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team wraps up this week's road trip by taking on UC Irvine in a duel between the top two teams in the Big West standings on Saturday at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Pacific Time (noon Hawai'i Time).
 
The Rainbow Wahine won this season's first meeting with the Anteaters 46-42 on Jan. 25 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center and enter the rematch with a 1½-game lead over UC Irvine in the conference race.
 
UH opened the road trip by rallying past Long Beach State in a 72-65 victory on Thursday to extend the program's longest winning streak in a decade to 12.
 

GAME 25: HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (18-6, 12-2 BIG WEST) at UC IRVINE (16-7 10-3 BIG WEST)
Date | Time				Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025  |  2:00 p.m. PT (12:00 p.m. HT)
Location				Bren Events Center  |  Irvine, Calif.
Television				None
Live Stream				ESPN+
Radio				None
Live Stats				ucirvinesports.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i | UC Irvine

  HEAD COACH LAURA BEEMANAt Hawai'i: 218-165 (13th season)

SERIES RECORD vs. UC IRVINEOverall: Hawai'i leads 38-15
Last meeting: UH 46, UCI 42; Jan. 25, 2025, Honolulu

STACKING WINS

• UH's current winning streak is the longest active streak in the Big West. UH last won 12 games in a row during a 15-game run in the 2014-15 season.
• The 'Bows are in the midst of the 10^th double-digit winning streak in program history.
• Following Thursday's win at Long Beach State, UH was among 12 Division I teams with active winning streaks of 12-plus games.
• UH is holding opponents to an average of 49 points per game on 31.8% shooting during the winning streak. 
• UH has controlled the boards over the last 12 games with a plus-9.4 rebounding margin. The 'Bows are 15-0 when outrebounding their opponents this season.
• The 'Bows are shooting 40.2% from the field and have a 12.8-point average scoring margin during their winning streak.

TOUGH ON D

• The Rainbow Wahine enter the weekend leading the Big West and ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 53.2 points per game. They're second in the conference and fourth nationally in field-goal percentage defense at 33.5%.
• UH also climbed to 13th nationally in 3-point percentage defense at 26.3%
• UH has held eight of its last 11 opponents under 50 points. The 'Bows run of six consecutive sub-50 point performances (Jan. 9-25) marked a program record.
• UH has held 20 opponents under 40% shooting, including eight games under 30%, and is 18-2 in those contests.
• The 'Bows have limited Big West opponents to 52.4 points per game on 32.8% shooting overall and 24% shooting from 3-point range.
• The 'Bows remain atop the Big West and rank 17th nationally in blocks per game (4.9). Three UH players rank in the top 10 in the Big West in blocks per game — Ritorya Tamilo (fourth, 1.4 bpg), Imani Perez (eighth, 1.0) and Brooklyn Rewers (10th, 0.9).

'BOWS NOTES

• Lily Wahinekapu continues to lead the team with 11 points per game, 60 assists and 29 steals. The senior became the 25^th member of the program's 1,000-point club in UH's win at Long Beach State. She has a total of 1,440 total points, including her freshman year at Cal State Fullerton (2021-22), with 1,013 coming at UH.
• Senior guard Kelsie Imai  became the eighth UH player to reach 300 career assists in Thursday's win. She moved up to seventh in program history with 301 and also ranks second in games played with 128.
• MeiLani McBee has 196 3-pointers for her career and is nine away from the program's record held by Amy Atwell. The senior has played in 132 games in her career, including the last 115 in a row, and moved past Atwell (2016-22) as the program's all-time leader on Jan. 25 against UC Irvine.
• Center Ritorya Tamilo posted the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 11 rebounds against UC Irvine on Jan. 25. The freshman led UH with 15 points at Long Beach State and is third on the team with 8.0 points per game and is shooting a team-high 50.8% from the field. She also leads the team with 32 blocked shots, one away from the UH freshman record.
• Imani Perez has averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while averaging a team-high 29.6 minutes in Big West play. She has 23 blocks overall and ranks 10^th in program history with 70 for her career. 
• Brooklyn Rewers has provided a boost off the bench in averaging 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in Big West play. Rewers is second on the team with 113 total rebounds.
• Mia 'Uhila has started the last six games and poured in a career-high 23 points, 15 coming in the third quarter alone, to spark UH's comeback against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 8. 'Uhila shot 63.2% (12 of 19) from the field in last week's homestand.
• Jovi Lefotu helped UH overcome her sister's absence against Cal Poly on Feb.6  with a career-high 15 points. She went 4-for-5 from the field and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line.
• UH head coach Laura Beeman earned her 600^th win of her career on Jan. 16 at CSUN. She posted 390 wins at Mt. San Antonio College (1994-2010) and now has 217 over her 13 seasons leading the Rainbow Wahine.

 
THE MATCHUP

• The Rainbow Wahine and Anteaters meet for the 54th time in a series that dates back to Jan. 21, 1985, an 80-50 UC Irvine victory.
• UH leads 15-11 in games played in Irvine. The 'Bows won last year's meeting at the Bren Events Center 56-49.
• UH has won the last three meetings with UC Irvine. The Anteaters' last win in the series came on Feb. 25, 2023, 68-66 in overtime in Irvine.
• UH won this season's first meeting 46-62 in Honolulu. The 'Bows outscored the Anteaters 18-9 in the fourth quarter of a defensive battle. Lily Wahinekapu led UH with 13 points. Ritorya Tamilo posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Deja Lee led UCI with 13 points.
• UH and UCI were among teams receiving votes in this week's Collegeinsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25.
• The teams have combined to win the last two Big West regular-season and championship titles. UCI captured its first Big West regular-season title in 2023 and UH went on to claim the Big West Championship crown. UH finished atop the regular-season standings last year before UCI won the conference championship in Henderson, Nev.
• UCI head coach Tamara Inoue is in her ninth season and has a career record of 156-113.
• The Anteaters opened the week with a 62-52 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday.
• Hunter Hernandez leads UCI and ranks seventh in the Big West with 13.7 points per game.
• Deja Lee, last season's Big West Player of the Year, averages 10.5 points per game and has a team-high 66 assists.
• The Anteaters rank second in the Big West and 15th nationally in scoring defense at 54.6 ppg.
• UC Irvine has won its last eight home games since dropping the season opener against New Mexico State on Nov. 4.

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