The Big West-leading University of Hawai'i women's basketball team heads back to California riding a 14-game winning streak and opens its final road trip of the regular season by taking on UC Riverside on Thursday, Feb. 27 at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time (4 p.m. Hawai'i Time).
 
The Rainbow Wahine winning streak is tied for the sixth longest in program history and the second longest in head coach Laura Beeman's tenure at UH. The 'Bows have built the streak on a defensive effort that propelled them to No. 1 in the country in field-goal percentage defense. The 'Bows also secured the program's 18^th 20-win season and fifth under Beeman with a 49-44 home win over UC San Diego on Feb. 22 and enter the week with a two-game lead over UC Irvine in the Big West race.
 
UH won this season's first meeting with UC Riverside 61-47 on Jan. 9 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Highlanders enter Thursday's game in seventh place in the conference standings. The 'Bows close this week's trip at UC Davis on Saturday, March 1 at the University Credit Union Center in Davis, Calif. The game is set for 2 p.m. PT (noon HT).
 

GAME 27: HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (20-6, 14-2 BIG WEST) at UC RIVERSIDE HIGHLANDERS (13-14, 9-8 BIG WEST)
Date | Time				Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025  |  6:00 p.m. PT (4:00 p.m. HT)
Location				SRC Arena | Riverside, Calif.
Television				None
Live Stream				ESPN+
Radio				None
Live Stats				gohighlanders.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i | UC Riverside

  HEAD COACH LAURA BEEMANAt Hawai'i: 220-165 (13th season)

SERIES RECORD vs. UC RIVERSIDEOverall: Hawai'i leads 18-7
Last meeting: UH 61, UCR 47; Jan. 9, 2025, Honolulu

STACKING WINS

• UH's current winning streak is the longest active streak in the Big West. UH last won 14 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 and the current streak is tied for the program's sixth longest.
• Entering the week, UH was among 11 teams in the nation with active winning streaks of 14-plus games.
• UH re-entered the Collegeinsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 this week, checking in at No. 25 in the poll. UH appeared in the poll in the first four weeks of the season and received votes in each of the last four weeks.
• UH is holding opponents to an average of 48.4 points per game on 30.6% shooting during the winning streak. 
• UH has controlled the boards over the last 14 games with a plus-9.1 rebounding margin. The 'Bows are 17-0 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 secured the 18^th 20-win season in program history and fifth during head coach Laura Beeman's tenure.

LOCKING IT DOWN

• The Rainbow Wahine entered the week ranked first among NCAA Division I teams in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 32.7% shooting from the field.
• UH also ranks second nationally in 3-point percentage defense (24.8%) and fourth in scoring defense (52.5 points per game allowed).
• The 'Bows also lead the Big West and rank 20^th nationally in blocked shots per game (4.8)
• UH has held 10 of its last 13 opponents under 50 points. The 'Bows run of six consecutive sub-50 point performances (Jan. 9-25) marked a program record.
• UH has held 22 opponents under 40% shooting, including 10 games under 30%, and is 20-2 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.

'BOWS NOTES

• Lily Wahinekapu continues to lead the team with 10.8  points per game, 64 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 on Feb. 13. She has a total of 1,459 total points, including her freshman year at Cal State Fullerton (2021-22), with 1,032 coming at UH.
• Senior guard Kelsie Imai  has averaged 9.0 points and 3.0 assists per game over the last seven games. She had a season-high seven assists against UC San Diego to move up to sixth in program history with 311 for her career.
• MeiLani McBee became the second player in program history to reach 200 made 3-pointers and is five away from tying the program record held by Amy Atwell. The senior has played in a program-record 134 games in her career, including the last 117 in a row.
• 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 UH's highest in a single season since Shawna-Lei Kuehu had 41 in 2014-15. Tamilo leads the team with 132 rebounds (5.3 per game) and ranks third on the team with 7.8 points per game while shooting 48% from the field.
• Imani Perez has anchored UH's defensive efforts while averaging 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in Big West play. She has 25 blocks this season and moved up to 10^th in program history with 72 for her career. 
• UH head coach Laura Beeman earned the 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 220 over her 13 seasons leading the Rainbow Wahine. 

 
THE MATCHUP

• Hawai'i and UC Riverside meet for the 26^th time in Thursday's game.
• UH leads 7-4 in games played in Riverside. The Highlanders won last year's meeting at SRC Arena 66-58 to break UH's eight-game winning streak in the series.
• UH won this season's first meeting 61-47 on Jan. 9 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Brooklyn Rewers scored a game-high 15 points and MeiLani McBee hit four 3-pointers in a 14-point performance.
• Brad Langston is in his second year as UCR's head coach and has a record of 31-28. He served as an assistant coach at Hawai'i for one season (2016-17).
• Langston led the Highlanders to an 18-14 record last season, a 12-win improvement over the previous year.
• UCR split a homestand last week, falling to Long Beach State on Feb. 20 before defeating Cal Poly on Feb. 22 in Riverside.
• The Highlanders rank second in the Big West and 65^th nationally in steals per game (9.7). They're also second in the conference with 18.04 turnovers forced per game.
• Guard Shelly Duchemin leads UCR with 11.0 points per game
• Freshman guard Hannah Wickstrom leads the Highlanders with 29 3-pointers.
• Senior forward Esther Matarranz leads UCR on the boards with 7.2 rebounds per game.

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