HENDERSON, Nev. — The top-seeded University of Hawai'i women's basketball team opens its postseason quest by taking on fourth-seeded UC San Diego in the semifinals of the Big West Championship presented by Credit Union 1 on Friday, March 14 at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (22-8, 16-4 Big West) earned the Big West regular-season championship last week and enter the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed for the second straight season. UH earned a double-bye into the semifinal round and will play in Friday's first game set for 12 p.m. Pacific Time (9 a.m. Hawai'i Time).
 
In the top half of the eight-team bracket, No. 8 seed Cal Poly defeated No. 5 UC Santa Barbara in the first round on Wednesday. Fourth-seed UC San Diego then advanced with a 59-54 win over Cal Poly in the quarterfinals on Thursday to set up Friday's meeting with UH. On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded UC Irvine will face No. 3-seed UC Davis in Friday's second semifinal.
 

GAME 31: HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (22-8, 16-4 BIG WEST) vs.  UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS (18-15, 13-7 BIG WEST)
Date | Time				Friday, March 14, 2025  |  12:00 p.m. PT (9:00 a.m. HT)
Location				Lee's Family Forum — Henderson, Nevada
Television				None
Live Stream				ESPN+  (Jennifer Mountain, Tracy Warren)
Radio				ESPN Honolulu (Dave Kawada, Kallin Spiller)
Live Stats				bigwest.org
Game Notes				Hawai'i

  HEAD COACH LAURA BEEMANAt Hawai'i: 222-167 (13th season)

SERIES RECORD vs. UC SAN DIEGOOverall: Hawai'i leads 5-3
2024-25 meetings: UH 65, UCSD 63, OT; Jan. 30, 2025; La Jolla, Calif. | UH 49, UCSD, 44; Feb. 22, 2025; Honolulu

THE ROAD TO HENDERSONThe Rainbow Wahine enter the Big West Championship as the No. 1 seed for the second straight season and the third time in the last four years. The 'Bows claimed the top seed and the Big West regular-season title outright with wins over CSU Bakersfield and CSUN in their final homestand of the season.  

• The Big West regular-season title is the fourth in Laura Beeman's 13-year career as UH head coach.
• UH started the Big West schedule at 0-2 then ran off 14 consecutive wins in the program's longest winning streak since the 2014-15 season. The run was tied for the sixth longest in program history.
• During the winning streak, UH secured the 18^th 20-win season in program history and fifth during Beeman's tenure.
• UH has won four Big West Championship titles — three under Beeman (2016, 2022, 2023) and one under Vince Goo (1996).
• UH is 22-18 in the Big West Championship overall and 8-6 in the semifinal round. The 'Bows lost to UC Davis in last year's semifinals.
• The Rainbow Wahine have earned a spot in the semifinals for a seventh straight Big West Championship. They advanced to the title game three times in that span and captured the championship in 2022 and '23. (The 2020 tournament was canceled the day after UH won its quarterfinal game.)

BEST OF THE BIG WESTThe Rainbow Wahine claimed three of the Big West's major awards and a total of four members of the program received recognition on the 2024-25 all-conference teams announced on Tuesday.

• Senior guard Lily Wahinekapu joined elite company as just the third Rainbow Wahine to be named Big West Player of the Year. Wahinekapu placed her name beside Judy Mosley (1990) and Amy Atwell (2022) as Big West Player of the Year honorees. Overall, Wahinekapu is UH's fifth conference player of the year. Nani Cockett (1998) and Raylene Howard (1999, 2000) picked up top honors in the Western Athletic Conference.
• Center Ritorya Tamilo became the fourth UH player to be named Big West Freshman of the Year and the first since Maudie Gonzalez in 1995.
• Imani Perez, the anchor of a UH defense that has ranked among the nation's leaders in field-goal percentage defense and scoring defense. duplicated the postseason honors she received last season in earning places on the all-conference second team and All-Defensive team.
• Laura Beeman was voted Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four years after leading the Rainbow Wahine to the Big West's regular-season championship.

DEFENSIVE MINDED

• The Rainbow Wahine closed the regular season leading the nation in 3-point percentage defense (24.7%) and ranked third among NCAA Division I teams in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 33.2% shooting from the field.
• UH ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense (52.9 points per game allowed).
• The 'Bows also lead the Big West and rank 31st nationally in blocked shots per game (4.4).
• UH has held 11 of its last 17 opponents under 50 points. The 'Bows run of six consecutive sub-50 point performances (Jan. 9-25) marked a program record.
• UH has held 23 opponents under 40% shooting, including 11 games under 30%, and is 21-2 in those contests.

'BOWS NOTES

• Lily Wahinekapu  leads the team with 11.1 points per game, 71 assists and 35 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 1,511 total points, including her freshman year at Cal State Fullerton (2021-22), with 1,084 coming at UH.
• MeiLani McBee became the program's all-time leader in 3-point goals in the regular-season finale. She hit two against CSUN to raise her career total to 206 and passed the previous record of 205 set by Amy Atwell in 2022. The senior has played in a program-record 138 games in her career, including the last 121 in a row.
• Senior guard Kelsie Imai has averaged 8.7 points over the last 11 games and has twice tied her career high with 12 points in that stretch. She now ranks sixth in program history with 316 career assists and is one away from catching Ayesha Brooks (1987-90) for fifth.
• Center Ritorya Tamilo leads the team with 38 blocked shots this season, breaking the previous UH freshman record of 33 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.
• Imani Perez has anchored UH's defensive efforts while averaging 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in Big West play. She has 29 blocks this season and moved up to 10^th in program history with 76 for her career. She also has 600 points for her career.
• 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 222 over her 13 seasons leading the Rainbow Wahine.

 

THE MATCHUP

• The Rainbow Wahine and Tritons meet for the ninth 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 five, including a sweep of this season's series.
• 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. Wahinekapu and Imani Perez (11 points) both hit three 3-pointers. Sumayah Sugapong led four UCSD players in double figures with 17 points.
• In the second meeting, UH won a defensive battle on Feb. 22 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in the 'Bows' 14^th consecutive win. Lily Wahinekapu led UH with 13 points and MeiLani McBee added 11 while reaching 200 career 3-pointers.
• UCSD guard Sumayah Sugapong was named to the All-Big West first-team on Tuesday. The sophomore ranks fifth in the conference with 14.3 points per game and leads the Big West with 3.8 assists per game and 2.50 steals per game.
• Sugapong scored a game-high 29 points in UCSD's 59-54 win over Cal Poly in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
• Guard Sabrina Ma was named the Big West Newcomer of the Year. Ma ranks second in the conference in 3-pointers per game (2.22) and third in in 3-point percentage (36.4%)
• As a team, UCSD leads the Big West and ranks 13th nationally with 11.7 steals per game. The Tritons also lead the conference and rank 20^th in Division I in turnovers forced per game (20.81).
• UCSD head coach Heidi VanDerveer is in her 13th season at UCSD and has a record of 250-129. She has a total record of 358-210 including stops at Occidental and Eastern Washington.
• 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.