Hawai’i escapes UC San Diego with sweaty overtime victory

They don’t ask how, they ask how many. 

The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team extended its season-long win streak to eight games on Thursday evening, outlasting UC San Diego in overtime, 65-63. The Rainbow Wahine saw multiple defensive breakdowns late, but a 19-point, 8-rebound performance from senior guard Lily Wahinekapu helped UH survive.

Imani Perez and Kelsie Imai also finished in double figures for Hawai’i (14-6, 8-2 Big West), doing a little bit of everything on both ends to help the Rainbow Wahine avoid a second-half collapse. Perez scored 11 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while Imai added 10 points, a trio of boards and dished out four assists as the senior guard moved into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time Rainbow Wahine career assists list (294). 

Redshirt sophomore Jovi Lefotu finished with eight points off the bench for UH and scored the game-winning basket with just under a minute to play in overtime after backing down and finishing a layup over a defender. The Rainbow Wahine also won the rebounding battle for the eighth consecutive outing, outworking the Tritons on the glass to a 40-35 advantage. 

UC San Diego was led by guard Sumayah Sugapong, who poured in 17 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists before fouling out with less than two minutes left in overtime. Sabrina Ma trailed right behind with 16 points of her own on 4-of-5 shooting from distance as four different Tritons finished in double digits in the loss. 

The Tritons (10-12, 6-4 Big West) started hot, scoring the first six points of the game before Lily Wahinekapu got Hawai’i on the board with a left-corner triple. Imani Perez provided the visiting Rainbow Wahine with their first lead of the evening just over a minute later, finishing a running layup to cap off a 7-0 run from UH. 

Hawai’i’s lead grew to two possessions after Wahinekapu drained her second 3-pointer of the opening frame, helping the Rainbow Wahine capitalize while the defense muddied up the UCSD offense. The Tritons finally found some daylight to end the quarter as Sabrina Ma made her first three of the game and Junae Mahan banked in a close-range jumper just before the horn to send UC San Diego into the second quarter trailing by just four. 

Perez started to get hot from behind the arc to start the second stanza, drilling the first of two 3-pointers in the period as Hawai’i extended the lead into double digits with eight minutes left in the opening half. The Tritons answered with an 11-4 run, pulling back within three with over a minute left before halftime, but Perez’s second long-range make of the frame sent the Rainbow Wahine into the locker rooms leading 32-26.

The offensive success to close the first half for UC San Diego carried over into the third quarter as the hosting Tritons outscored Hawai’i in the frame by six. After Mia ‘Uhila knocked down her only triple of the game to put the Rainbow Wahine up by seven with 6:34 left in the quarter, UCSD would double up UH the rest of the way as the Tritons came storming back to tie the game at 46 after three frames. 

UC San Diego’s Ma pushed the Tritons over the top to open the fourth quarter, banking in a three to give a 49-46 lead to the hosts. The sides continued wrestling for the lead until Jovi Lefotu tied the game at 54 with a driving layup and her sister Lily Wahinekapu inched Hawai’i ahead again after collecting a miss from Kelsie Imai and putting it back up with 1:08 left in regulation. 

After Sumayah Sugapong knotted things at 56 on the following possession, Wahinekapu gave fans déjà vu with another offensive rebound and putback for the lead with 36 seconds left to play to the delight of the Hawai’i bench. After a foul and a timeout from the Tritons, UH suffered a defensive miscue as Sabrina Ma came screaming wide open off of a pair of screens and drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer for UC San Diego with 17 seconds remaining. 

Down 59-58, the Rainbow Wahine went back to their leading scorer as Wahinekapu worked her way to the line with under 10 seconds on the clock and made one of the two free throws to tie the game at 59-all. After another UCSD timeout, Sugapong got an excellent look to win it at the buzzer for the hosts but sent the layup too strong towards the rim as Hawai’i’s 7-game win streak briefly looked in critical danger.

UCSD’s Gracie Gallegos got the scoring started in overtime, but Wahinekapu quickly returned the Rainbow Wahine to poll position with the help of a friendly bounce on her third 3-pointer of the night. Ma would put the Tritons ahead again with 3:01 left in the extra period as she calmly knocked down two free throws. 

After two minutes of trading defensive stops, Lefotu snapped the scoring drought as she backed down her defender from the elbow into the paint and smoothly finished with her right hand to put Hawai’i in front by one with 58 seconds remaining. Wahinekapu added a free throw for slight insurance with eight seconds left to give UH a two-point advantage before the Tritons’ last-ditch effort to tie or take the lead. 

After the ball got knocked out of bounds by the Rainbow Wahine with just over a second remaining, a beautiful baseline set saw a UCSD player streak wide open under the basket but be unable to get the shot off in time as Hawai’i survived in overtime, 65-63.

The victory for Hawai’i helped the Rainbow Wahine remain in a tie at the top of the Big West Conference with UC Irvine, who beat Long Beach State on Thursday night to bounce back from last Saturday’s loss at UH. The eight-game win streak is the longest for head coach Laura Beeman’s team since 2022, when Hawai’i went on to win the Big West Tournament championship. 

They’ll look to make in nine in a row on Saturday when second rounds against conference opponents begin. Hawai’i will visit Cal State Fullerton for an early tip-off (2 p.m. PT/ noon HT) to close out the road trip.