The Hawaii women’s basketball team went deep to pick up its first win of the 2024-25 season.
Coach Laura Beeman substituted liberally as the Rainbow Wahine defeated Portland State, 72-50, on Saturday to salvage a split of their season-opening road trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Eleven players played 12 minutes or more and all of them scored a field goal. Thirteen total Wahine saw action.
“The fact that we have depth on our bench will keep the competition on our court and hopefully keep making us better,” Beeman told Spectrum News in a message after the game.
UH senior guard Mia ‘Uhila, a transfer from PSU, started in her return to Viking Pavilion and grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go with a basket against her former team of three years.
Wing MeiLani McBee scored a team-high 12 points with five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Guard Jovi Lefotu hit four of seven shots as a reserve for nine points.
UH (1-1) doubled up PSU in bench points, 42-21.
Among starters, playmaker Daejah Phillips scored 11 points with three assists and freshman center Ritorya Tamilo scored 10 in 16 minutes in her first start.
After UH committed eight early turnovers and allowed 20 points in the first quarter, it buckled down with dominant third and fourth quarters. It finished with 10 3-pointers and went plus-10 on the backboards.
The Wahine were coming off a 76-65 loss at Portland, a contender in the West Coast Conference. They fared much better against Big Sky member PSU, an eight-win team a season ago.
“I love the way the team responded to the loss on Thursday,” Beeman said.
All-conference guard Lily Wahinekapu played 18 minutes off the bench after a quiet game in the opener. She recorded five points, two assists and four turnovers.
PSU did not have a starter score in double figures. Jamia Carter led the Vikings with 15 points off the bench.
Vikings sophomore guard Laynee Torres-Kahapea, a Punahou graduate from Kaneohe, started and scored three points on 0-for-4 shooting, but had four steals and a block.
UH is off from games until its home debut Nov. 22 against Louisiana-Monroe in the Bank of Hawaii Classic.