HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team leaned on its defense to protect home court in a 55-50 win over Big West co-leader UC Irvine to open a two-game homestand on Thursday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
In a rematch of UC Irvine's three-point win on Jan. 10 in Irvine, Calif., UH held the visiting Anteaters 22 points below their season average to earn their season-high fifth straight victory.
The Rainbow Wahine (11-9 overall) evened their conference record at 5-5 in extending their longest winning streak of the season, eclipsing a four-game streak to open the season. UCI fell to 17-4 and 8-2 with its second straight loss to fall a game behind UC San Diego.
UH freshman
Bailey Flavell scored all of her game-high 18 points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds. Flavell hit two 3-pointers and went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. She also came up with a steal and two blocks on the defensive end.
Keiara Curtis hit three key 3-pointers — one to close the third quarter and two more in the fourth — and finished with 11 points. Senior
Saniyah Neverson added 10 points and freshman
Kyra Webb provided valuable minutes off the bench on both ends of the court while contributing 10 points and five rebounds.
Imani Perez helped anchor the UH defense despite foul trouble in the second half and snagged nine rebounds.
Jada Wynn led UC Irvine with 17 points, 11 coming in the fourth quarter. Hunter Hernandez, the conference's second leading scorer entering the game, finished with nine points on 3-for-20 shooting and 10 rebounds.
The teams combined for a 1-for-11 start in a duel of the Big West's top two teams in field-goal percentage defense. UCI went on a 9-0 run to end the first quarter and start the second before Curtis drained a deep 3-pointer to cut UCI's lead to 12-9.
Points remained tough to come by in the second quarter and UH tied it up at 15-15 when
Ritorya Tamilo drained her second 3-pointer of the season and third of her career. The teams went into their locker rooms tied at 17-17 after the lowest scoring half of the season for both teams.
Flavell scored her first four points of the game to open the third quarter and the defense continued to stifle the Anteaters in holding UCI to 3-for-12 shooting from the field in the period. Flavell drained a 3-pointer to give UH a seven-point cushion and Curtis hit her second of the game to send UH into the fourth quarter with a 33-25 lead.
The 'Bows opened up a double-digit lead at 44-32 when Curtis and Flavell hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The margin grew to 14 before UCI scrambled back and closed to four at 54-50 on a Shirel Nahum 3-pointer with 25 seconds left. Neverson added a free throw and the 'Bows made one last defensive stop to close out the win.
The Rainbow Wahine close out January by taking on Long Beach State on Saturday, Jan. 31 for this season's edition of "Beeman's Big Bash." Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
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