HONOLULU — A second-half surge powered the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team to its 10th consecutive victory in a 67-43 Big West victory over Cal Poly on Thursday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Protecting a four-point lead at halftime, the Rainbow Wahine (16-6, 10-2 Big West) outscored the Mustangs 17-8 in the third quarter and continued to pull away with a 25-point fourth quarter on their way to completing a sweep of the regular-season series with the Mustangs (10-12, 5-7).
UH entered the day tied with UC Irvine for first place in the Big West race and moved a half-game ahead of the idle Anteaters with Thursday's win.
The Rainbow Wahine extended their longest winning streak since winning 15 straight in 2015 and now hold the 10th double-digit winning streak in program history.
With leading scorer Lily Wahinekapu out of action, her sister Jovi Lefotu scored a career-high 15 points to lead four UH players in double figures. Lefotu went 4-of-5 from the field and sank all six of her free throw attempts.
Freshman center Ritorya Tamilo finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Brooklyn Rewers added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Senior guard Mia 'Uhila also picked up some of the scoring going 3 for 3 from the field in the first half on her way to finishing with 11 points.
Senior Kelsie Imai made her second start of the season and contributed nine points, two assists and two steals.
After struggling from the field in the first half, UH shot 68% in the second, going 13 for 19 from the field, and finished at 46.7% for the game. The 'Bows, who entered the week fourth in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, limited Cal Poly to 27.1% shooting, including a paltry 1-of-18 on three-pointers. UH also scored 22 points off of 19 Mustang turnovers. It all resulted in UH holding an opponent under 50 points for the eighth time in the last nine games.
UH jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 'Uhila twice getting to the basket for layups. Cal Poly started 1 for 9 from the field, but went on a 6-0 run late in the first quarter to take a 12-11 lead.
The UH offense went cold late in the first quarter and early in the second as Cal Poly went up 15-13. Imai sparked the 'Bows with a driving layup and UH took a 21-17 lead when 'Uhila found Imani Perez down low for a layup. The UH defense limited Cal Poly to one field goal over the final 7:23 of the half and took a 25-21 edge into the locker room.
Cal Poly scored the first bucket of the third quarter, but UH answered with an 11-0 run highlighted by a steal and layup by Lefotu, who later finished on a drive to the bucket to extend the lead to 36-23. UH held Cal Poly scoreless for a span of 5:33 during the run and went on to open up a 42-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The 'Bows rolled the momentum into the fourth quarter with Lefotu and Imai hitting late 3-pointers and UH finished off its eighth straight win over the Mustangs and its 12th in the last 13 meetings.
The Rainbow Wahine finish off the homestand on Saturday when they face UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos handed UH a 72-62 loss on Jan. 2 at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif., in the teams' first meeting of the season. Tipoff for Saturday's rematch is set for 7 p.m. at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
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