Ignoring “that little voice” helped Hawaii deliver a statement win.
Coming off an 0-2 road trip to start the season, the Rainbow Wahine basketball team broke through with a resounding 72-50 victory over Youngstown State in the second game of Friday’s Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic doubleheader at the Stan Sheriff Center.
“We felt as a coaching staff this was an enormous game as far as pressure for these young ladies,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “Coming back home 0-2. For a lot of these young ladies their first home collegiate game. Knowing that we did not play well on the road and hoping that we could turn it around tonight.
“I don’t know if we’ll play a game bigger than this all year long because of the pressure. That little negative voice that gets in the back of your head and says ‘what if, what if, what if,’ that makes you miss shots and tonight they overcame that. … Couldn’t be more proud of them overcoming just the mental part of the game tonight.”
After shooting 30 percent from the field on the road, the Rainbow Wahine (1-2) finished at 48 percent on Friday and took control with an 18-2 run in the second quarter. They face New Mexico State (2-1) for the tournament title on Sunday.
Sophomore point guard Olivia Crawford tied a career high with 13 points and Lahni Salanoa posted her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Sarah Toeaina scored six of her 11 points in UH’s 25-point second-quarter outburst and Briana Harris, who started the first two games, came off the bench to contribute 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“It doesn’t matter if I start or if I come off the bench; either way you have to give energy no matter what happens. That’s what my mind-set was today,” Harris said.
Lahainaluna graduate Keleah-Aiko Koloi made her collegiate debut and went 5-for-5 from the field and grabbed four rebounds. Freshman Julissa Tago made her first start and drained two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with eight points.
Koloi injured her knee twice in the preseason and didn’t see action in UH’s losses at USC and CSU Bakersfield last weekend. She entered the game with 3:33 left in the first quarter and promptly drained a baseline jumper the first time she touched the ball.
“I was really excited and it amped me up more,” said Koloi, who contributed to UH’s 43-32 rebounding advantage.
Youngstown State got off to a 2-for-15 start in the first quarter and improved only slightly as the game progressed, finishing at 27 percent (16-for-59).
“The biggest thing for us was the adjustments from California to tonight in our zone,” Beeman said. “Our zone was active. … I thought we got out on shooters and we rebounded very, very well out of that zone.”
New Mexico State 99, Sacramento State 73
Farrington graduate Jeneva Toilolo tied for team-high honors with 16 points and the Aggies pulled away from the Hornets in the second half.
Brooke Salas and Tyesha Taylor also finished with 16 points for NMSU (2-1), which shot 52 percent from the field and outscored Sacramento State 29-12 in the third quarter. Emily Easom led Sacramento State with 16 points and the Hornets went 9-for-36 from 3-point range.
