Officially, Olivia Crawford was recruited to Hawaii from Lakewood, Wash.

But she had the islands in her heart well before committing to join Rainbow Wahine basketball.

“This is my second home,” Crawford said. “When you go on my social media accounts it’ll still say Mililani Town is my hometown.”

Crawford grew up in a military family and lived in Central Oahu for 31⁄2 years, attending Pearl Harbor Christian Academy. Even after moving to the mainland, Crawford visited during the summer, and her brothers graduated from Mililani.

As she developed into a high-scoring guard at Lakes High School in Washington, her first recruiting call originated from her childhood home.

“(Former UH assistant) coach Dekita (Williams) called me and I was, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I didn’t know what to say to her,” Crawford recalled.

“I’ll never forget that day and I’ll never forget how that made me feel and how much hunger it gave me to be able to play at this level.”

After joining a senior-laden starting five 12 games into her freshman season, the 5-foot-5 point guard returned as one of the most seasoned Rainbow Wahine. Asserting herself as a leader and scorer, she ranks third on the team with nine points per game entering UH’s Big West home opener against Cal State Fullerton (3-12, 0-2 Big West) today at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“Being a point guard and one of the leaders as a sophomore is definitely a challenge, but it’s nothing I’m backing down from,” Crawford said.

The Wahine (4-10, 0-2) return to the Sheriff coming off road losses at conference favorites Long Beach State and UC Davis and looking to break through today before heading back on the road next week.

Crawford scored 22.1 points per game as a high school senior and transitioned to a distributor last season while averaging 3.4 points and 2.1 assists. Running the point in a lineup led by seniors such as Destiny King, Ashleigh Karaitiana and Kalei Adolpho helped ease the load on the freshman.

She’s working to provide similar influence on a team that typically starts a junior, two sophomores and two freshmen.

“(Last year’s seniors) always had something to say, they were always picking me up,” Crawford said. “Now I have to be that person to pick (her teammates) up.”

Crawford’s on-court voice caught UH head coach Laura Beeman’s ear while scouting a high school tournament in Las Vegas.

“In the recruiting process I liked the way she talked on the floor, I liked her high motor, her pace on offense,” Beeman said.

Crawford’s energy proved pivotal late in UH’s last home game, a 51-47 win over Grand Canyon on Dec. 29. With the Wahine protecting a two-point lead, Crawford dove to secure a loose ball after GCU missed a potential tying shot with 23 seconds left and drew a charge on the Antelopes’ next possession.

“She plays through pain, she plays through adversity,” Beeman said “Since the moment she’s walked in here, that young lady has grown off the court more than on the court with just her leadership ability, her self-awareness, being able to make changes so she can be a better leader.”

Crawford scored in double figures in five of UH’s last seven games and hit five 3-pointers on last week’s road trip.

In preparing for Cal State Fullerton, Crawford said she met with Beeman this week about “being more of a leader on the court and being more of a facilitator.”

“I can talk to her very differently than I can talk to most players,” Beeman said.

“She tells me flat-out, ‘Don’t sugarcoat it,’ and I can just nail her and she’s ‘OK, Coach, got it.’ … We have a really good relationship where we debate and talk and compromise and come to an agreement.”