Fourth quarter magic helps lift Hawai’i over UC Irvine

HONOLULU – The race to the top. 

Celebrating “Beeman’s Bigger Bash” in front of the largest crowd of the season, the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team moved into a tie for first place in the conference standings on Saturday night with a gritty 46-42 win over defending Big West Tournament champion UC Irvine. Freshman center Ritorya Tamilo recorded her first career double-double, tallying 11 points and 11 rebounds while coming up with a big block late in the fourth quarter, delighting the 3,000-plus fans in the building and sending them home happy as the Rainbow Wahine racked up the team’s seventh straight victory. 

“[The crowd was] unbelievable,” Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman said of the fans in attendance. “The energy, the defense [chants], the [Let’s go ‘Bows chants], they gave us the extra juice that we needed … It was an incredible environment.”

Lily Wahinekapu tied for the game-high with 13 points to lead Hawai’i, scoring seven points in the fourth quarter as the Rainbow Wahine took control of the game. Imani Perez chipped in nine points while matching her career high with 10 rebounds to help UH end the week sharing space atop the Big West with UCI and Long Beach State. 

In her second start this year and first since November, Mia ‘Uhila provided a little bit of everything for UH as she put up six points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out a team-high four assists. MeiLani McBee, who set the Hawai’i program record for career games with her 127th appearance for the Rainbow Wahine on Saturday, scored four points and grabbed four rebounds in the victory. 

“Just an absolutely gritty performance by this team,” Beeman proudly stated postgame. “For this team to have the grit that they did, figure things out after that first half and do what they did – particularly in that fourth quarter – I think that we probably gained a lot of fans tonight with how we played and how we responded. [I] could not be more proud of them.”

Tamilo got the Rainbow Wahine out to a solid start, scoring the team’s first five points as they took a two-point lead into night’s first media timeout while holding UCI to one make over 11 shot attempts to begin the action. The sides flipped fortunes offensively to end the opening frame, seeing UH go without a point over the final 6:45 of the quarter and the Anteaters drain a pair of 3-pointers to go into the second quarter leading by a score, 11-5. 

The scoring drought continued two more minutes into the second frame before Imani Perez finally joined Tamilo in the box sheet with a layup off a pretty feed from Jovi Lefotu. After a bucket from Lefotu herself, Lily Wahinekapu drained a pair of threes to get the crowd back into it as she made it a two-point game with 3:16 left before halftime. 

UC Irvine remained calm, punching back with a mini run of their own as Summah Hanson drained a 3-pointer to give the Anteaters a 22-15 lead with 68 seconds left in the second quarter. Mia ‘Uhila sliced through lane for a nice finish with 34 seconds remaining, helping jerk the momentum back towards Hawai’i as the first half ended with UCI still in front.

The third quarter started with a renewed focus for the Rainbow Wahine, seeing the hosts score the first six points out of the break to take a one-point lead to force a timeout from the Anteaters. A fired-up Beeman welcomed the team back to the bench after the start that saw three different players score and UH be the first to multiple 50-50 balls. 

“Sometimes, whether we’re playing well or we’re not playing well, these guys need to know that we absolutely believe in them,” Beeman said of her extra fiery welcome into the timeout for her team. “That timeout – I was just incredibly proud of just the grit, the confidence … Yeah, I don’t get that pumped up often but that warranted it, and I needed these guys to know that I was just incredibly proud of what they were doing out there.” 

The timeout helped UC Irvine calm the energy in the building, scoring the next seven points to fight back in front as Hunter Hernandez drilled a 3-pointer to make it 29-23 in favor of the Anteaters. After Deja Lee’s layup with 1:58 left in the third quarter gave UCI an eight-point advantage, Hawai’i took the final three points of the frame from the free throw line to go into the final 10 minutes trailing 33-28. 

Much like the start to the previous quarter, Hawai’i began the fourth on fire as Wahinekapu drained her third 3-pointer of the game before finding a cutting Imani Perez two possessions later to put the Rainbow Wahine back in front with seven minutes to play, 35-34.

The UH advantage grew to six with two minutes left after a pair of free throws from Tamilo, a tough finish from McBee and a steal-and-score from Wahinekapu. The defense locked down UCI over the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter, holding the Anteaters without a make from the floor until Lauryn Madsen’s first make of the game ended the drought with a 3-pointer to pull the visitors within two with 43 seconds left in regulation. 

After an ‘Uhila layup pushed the Hawai’i advantage back to two possessions, UCI’s Lee drilled another 3-pointer to cut the lead to 43-42 with 31 seconds still on the clock. Forced to make clutch free throws, Wahinekapu and Lefotu stepped up and cashed in on 3-of-4 tries from the charity stripe to seal the victory for Hawai’i.

Defending Big West Player of the Year Deja Lee finished with 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting for UC Irvine, giving the Rainbow Wahine a scare late despite suffering an injury suffered in the second half. Hunter Hernandez added 11 points for the Anteaters, shooting a ghastly 3-of-15 from the floor as the UH defense continued an incredible defensive run through conference play. 

Hawai’i will look to extend the team’s 7-game win streak when they return to action next week, hitting the road to face UC San Diego on Thursday before visiting Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

FULL PHOTO ALBUM: HERE (via Hawaii Sports Radio Network)