HONOLULU — On a night when the University of Hawai'i women's basketball program celebrated its past, the current Rainbow Wahine continued their historic run with a 49-44 win over UC San Diego on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (20-6, 14-2 Big West) limited the visiting Tritons (14-14, 10-6) to 23 points through three quarters then held off a rally in the fourth to win their 14
th consecutive game and reached 20 wins for the 18
th time in program history and the fifth time under head coach
Laura Beeman.
UH welcomed alumnae spanning the program's 50 years of intercollegiate competition back to the arena and extended the program's longest winning streak since 2015 while maintaining a two-game lead over UC Irvine atop the Big West standings.
In their penultimate homestand, senior
Lily Wahinekapu led UH with 13 points and
MeiLani McBee scored all 11 of her points in the second quarter and reached 200 3-pointers for her career.
Kelsie Imai dished out a season-high seven assists and moved up to sixth in program history with 311 for her career. The senior also contributed seven points and five rebounds and the 'Bows led for all but 40 seconds of game time.
UH limited UCSD to 18% shooting (9 for 50) through three quarters as the 'Bows built a 17-point lead early in the fourth. The Tritons made a late run to close to within six in the final minutes before UH held on to seal the win.
Sumayah Sugapong, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, and Gracie Gallegos led UCSD with 12 points each. UCSD ended the game shooting 24.3% from the field overall and 10% from 3-point range (3 for 30) and UH's defense helped the 'Bows overcome 22 turnovers.
UH started fast with Wahinekapu scoring on a floater and hitting a 3-pointer to help the 'Bows take an 8-3 lead. That would be their final field goal of the opening period, yet UH led 11-9 after the first 10 minutes.
McBee broke the drought early in the second quarter by draining her first 3-pointer and went on to score UH's first eight points of the period. When she hit her third 3-pointer — the 200
th of her career — UH opened its widest lead of the first half at 24-14. The UH defense limited UCSD to 18.4% shooting from the field to take a 26-19 lead into halftime.
The 'Bows extended the lead in the third quarter while holding the Tritons to just four points on 2-for-12 shooting. UH's lead grew to 38-23 when Wahinekapu's 3-pointer from the right wing hit high off the backboard and banked through the net.
The Tritons found their shooting touch early in the fourth quarter and cut the UH lead to single digits with a 6-0 run that chopped the margin to 44-38 with 2:21 left. UCSD again closed to six with 1:17 remaining, but Wahinekapu hit two free throws and Imai added another to maintain the lead and a UCSD layup at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.
The Rainbow Wahine open their final road trip of the regular season by taking on UC Riverside on Feb. 27 in Riverside, Calif. UH then faces UC Davis on March 1 in Davis, Calif.
#HawaiiWBB
