HONOLULU — The Big West-leading University of Hawai'i women's basketball team brings a 13-game winning streak back home for a matchup with UC San Diego on Saturday, Feb. 22 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
The Rainbow Wahine swept their road trip to Long Beach State and second-place UC Irvine last week to create some separation atop the Big West standings and enter the weekend with a two-game edge on UCI. UC San Diego heads to Hawai'i in third place, three games behind the 'Bows, after a 66-49 win over Cal Poly on Thursday
 
UH won the season's first meeting with UC San Diego, pulling out a 65-63 win in overtime in La Jolla, Calif. The Tritons have won three of their last four games since then to climb into third in the Big West race.
 

GAME 26: HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (19-6, 13-2 BIG WEST) vs. UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS (14-13, 10-5 BIG WEST)
Date | Time				Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025  |  7:00 p.m. HT
Location				SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Television				Spectrum Sports - Ch. 12 [SD] and 1012 [HD]
Live Stream				ESPN+ (Blacked out in Hawai'i)
Radio				ESPN Honolulu
Live Stats				HawaiiAthletics.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i | UC San Diego
Promotions				Pink Game • In partnership with Hawaii Pacific Health we put the spotlight on the fight against cancer, and ask you to wear pink in solidarity to stand against the disease.

  HEAD COACH LAURA BEEMANAt Hawai'i: 219-165 (13th season)

SERIES RECORD vs. UC SAN DIEGOOverall: Hawai'i leads 4-3
Last meeting: UH 65, UCSD 63, OT; Jan. 30, 2025; La Jolla, Calif.

STACKING WINS

• UH's current winning streak is the longest active streak in the Big West. UH last won 13 games in a row during a 15-game run in the 2014-15 season.
• The 'Bows now own the 10^th double-digit winning streak in program history. The current streak is the program's seventh longest.
• Entering the week, UH was among 12 teams in the nation with active winning streaks of 13-plus games.
• The 'Bows have won their last seven home games and their last seven road games.
• UH is holding opponents to an average of 48.7 points per game on 31.1% shooting during the winning streak. 
• UH has controlled the boards over the last 13 games with a plus-9.6 rebounding margin. The 'Bows are 65-0 when outrebounding their opponents this season.
• The 'Bows are shooting 39.6% from the field and have a 12.1-point average scoring margin during their winning streak.
• UH is one win away from its 18^th 20-win season overall and fifth during head coach Laura Beeman's tenure.

DEFENSE TRAVELS

• Coming off two road wins, the Rainbow Wahine entered the week in the top 10 nationally in three defensive categories. They lead the Big West and ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 52.8 points per game. They're second in the conference and third nationally in field-goal percentage defense at 33.1%. UH also climbed to 10th nationally in 3-point percentage defense at 26.5%
• UH has held nine of its last 12 opponents under 50 points. The 'Bows run of six consecutive sub-50 point performances (Jan. 9-25) marked a program record.
• UH has held 21 opponents under 40% shooting, including nine games under 30%, and is 19-2 in those contests.
• The 'Bows have limited Big West opponents to 51.87 points per game on 32.2% shooting overall and 23.1% shooting from 3-point range.
• The 'Bows remain atop the Big West and rank 17th nationally in blocks per game (4.9). Ritorya Tamilo leads UH 34 blocks and broke the program's freshman record during their game at UC Irvine on Feb. 15. Imani Perez is next with 24 blocks followed by Brooklyn Rewers with 22.

'BOWS NOTES

• Lily Wahinekapu continues to lead the team with 10.8 points per game, 63 assists and 30 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 1,446 total points, including her freshman year at Cal State Fullerton (2021-22), with 1,019 coming at UH.
• Senior guard Kelsie Imai  has turned up her production in the last three weeks. She's averaged 9.3 points and 2.3 assists per game over the last six games in just under 28 minutes per game. She became the eighth UH player to reach 300 career assists during UH's win at Long Beach State on Feb. 13. She ranks seventh in program history with 304 assists and also ranks second in games played with 129.
• MeiLani McBee has 197 3-pointers for her career and is eight away from the program's record held by Amy Atwell. The senior has played in a program-record 133 games in her career, including the last 116 in a row, breaking the previous mark of 126 set by Atwell.
• Center Ritorya Tamilo leads the team with 34 blocked shots this season, breaking the UH freshman record previously held by Jeanne Wade since 1984. Overall, Tamilo's blocked shots total is the highest in a single season since Shawna-Lei Kuehu had 41 in the 2014-15 season. Tamilo ranks third on the team with 8.0 points per game and is shooting a team-high 50% from the field.
• Imani Perez has helped anchor UH's defensive efforts while averaging 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in Big West play. She has 24 blocks this season and moved up to 10^th in program history with 71 for her career. 
• Brooklyn Rewers has provided a boost off the bench in averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in Big West play. Rewers is second on the team with 119 total rebounds this season and also had five assists last week.
• Mia 'Uhila has started six of the last seven 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 durong UH's last homestand. 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 219 over her 13 seasons leading the Rainbow Wahine.

 
THE MATCHUP

• The Rainbow Wahine and Tritons meet for the eighth time in a series that began on Jan. 13, 2022, an 82-58 UC San Diego win in La Jolla, Calif.
• UCSD won the first three meetings between the programs and UH has claimed the last four.
• UCSD leads 2-1 in games played in Honolulu.
• UCSD last defeated UH on Jan. 5, 2023, 60-57 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
• UH won this season's first meeting 65-63 in overtime on Jan. 30 at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, Calif. Lily Wahinekapu led UH with 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting and eight rebounds. Wahinekpau and Imani Perez (11 points) both hit three 3-pointers. Sumayah Sugapong led four UCSD players in double figures with 17 points.
• UCSD has won four of its last five games to vault to third in the Big West standings. The Tritons defeated Cal Poly 66-49 on Thursday. Sabrina Ma led the Tritons with 14 points. 
• Sugapong was named Big West Player of the Week for the fourth time this season on Monday. Sugapong ranks fifth in the conference with 14.2 points per game and leads the Big West in assists (98) and steals (68).
• As a team, UCSD leads the Big West and ranks 14th nationally with 12.1 steals per game. The Tritons also lead the conference and rank 20^th in Division I in turnovers forced per game (21.42).
• Sabrina Ma ranks third in the conference in 3-point percentage (39%) and 3-pointers per game (2.12).
• UCSD head coach Heidi VanDerveer is in her 13th season at UCSD and has a record of 245-127. 
• UCSD's four-year reclassification period to Division I ended on July 1, 2024, and the Tritons are eligible for postseason play for the first time since joining the Big West in 2020.

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