SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team surged away from Cal Poly and secured a berth in the Big West Championship with a 71-54 victory on Thursday at the Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (15-10, 9-6 Big West) went on a 20-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take control and picked up their ninth win in the last 10 games. With the win, UH clinched one of the eight spots in the Credit Union 1 Big West Women's Basketball Championship set for March 11-14 in Henderson, Nev.
The 'Bows completed a sweep of the regular-season series with Cal Poly and head into Saturday's game at UC Santa Barbara a half-game behind the Gauchos for fifth place in the Big West standings and 1 ½ games behind Cal State Fullerton for fourth.
UH freshman
Bailey Flavell led four UH players in double figures with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field. She also led the team with seven rebounds and dished out four assists with no turnovers.
Senior
Imani Perez tied her career high by draining four 3-pointers on her way to a 14-point performance while
Saniyah Neverson did her work inside to also finish with 14 points.
Ritorya Tamilo went 5-for-6 from the field and made all three of her free throws to add 13 points.
Charish Thompson led the host Mustangs (3-23, 1-15) with 22 points.
Cal Poly scored the game's first six points before Neverson converted a three-point play. The Mustangs led 14-7 when a 3-pointer by Perez ignited a 12-0 run to close the opening period. Five UH players contributed to the surge and the 'Bows led 19-14 going into the second quarter.
UH maintained the momentum with an 8-0 run to start the period and opened up a 27-14 lead when
Rebecca Moors hit a 3-pointer off a feed from Flavell. The 'Bows led by 17 midway through the quarter and Cal Poly scored the last eight points to cut UH's lead to 33-24 at the break.
UH hit its first six shots of the third quarter with Neverson scoring the first five points of the period. The lead hit 20 when Perez drained her third 3-pointer and she matched her career best when she hit her fourth at the 1:50 mark of the quarter.
Flavell hit her third 3-pointer in a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter and UH led by 28 with 5:24 left and closed out its 10
th straight win in the series with Cal Poly.
The Rainbow Wahine complete their Central Coast road trip by taking on UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is set for noon Hawai'i Time (2 p.m. Pacific Time) at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.
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