Purdue hands UH first home loss

Hawaii’s late-game run against Purdue was just that — late.

What resembled a rout for 31⁄2 quarters was downgraded to a regular old defeat as UH showed fight down the stretch of a 79-67 loss to the Boilermakers in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Saturday night.

All the same, it resulted in UH’s first setback at the Stan Sheriff Center this season and also snapped a four-game winning streak.

“We didn’t show up. The only reason we had any comeback at all was we were playing against their second- and third-string kids,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “From the first tip, we were not focused. I have to figure out what I have to do to get these guys ready to play. I didn’t feel like we we ready to play yesterday (a 70-63 comeback win over Marist).

“It took us the last five minutes of that game to get something together. You can’t do something like that against a team like Purdue. … We have not been ready this entire tournament.”

UH (4-2) closes the tournament against powerful USC (6-0) of the Pac-12 at 5 p.m. today. The Women of Troy bested Purdue 58-46 on Friday and Marist 78-57 in Saturday’s first game.

“We will be a statistic to USC tomorrow,” Beeman said. “They will do what they can do to pad stats and make this as lopsided as they possibly can.”

Sarah Toeaina led UH with 12 points Saturday, while Julissa Tago and Lahni Salanoa added 11 apiece. It wasn’t nearly enough firepower to stick with the Boilermakers (4-2), who sizzled from the outset — they eventually cooled off to 54.2 percent shooting — in taking a 24-10 lead after a quarter.

“Coach Beeman came up to me and said I have to lock it down. Either I’m going to sit down or try to turn the tables,” Toeaina said. “Starting tonight I’m going to text the team and try to get us all locked in. Learn from today, take the meat from it and move on to tomorrow.”

UH faced a 24-point halftime deficit. The margin swelled to 30 in the third before UH began matching Purdue bucket for bucket late in the period to go into the fourth down 68-42.

Amy Atwell’s corner 3 made it a 14-point game with two minutes left, and Lahni Salanoa swooped in for an and-1 basket to cap a late 11-0 run to get within 11. UH was out of time, though.

Beeman gave 6-4 freshman center Lauren Rewers her first start and brought sophomore forward Makenna Woodfolk off the bench. Rewers scored eight, including two three-point plays.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” Rewers said. “Especially coming into tomorrow, knowing I’ll be playing more powerful, bigger posts. … Like Coach B says, I have to be the one to initiate contact, be aggressive.”

Coming into the tournament, UH had allowed 2.8 made 3s per game by opponents, on 25.6 percent shooting. The Boilermakers were red hot, sinking nine of their 15 long-range attempts (60 percent).

Purdue connected on 10 of its first 14 shots, including four 3-point hits in six attempts, as the Wahine were late to close out on shooters.

Tiara Murphy banked in a 3 in the second period for a 37-14 lead. The onslaught continued through halftime, with Purdue leading 43-19 while shooting 60 percent.

Freshman forward Ae’Rianna Harris led Purdue with 18 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

UH guard Rachel Odumu went down with an injury scare early in the fourth but was able to walk off the floor under her own power. She returned later in the period.

USC 78, Marist 57

The Women of Troy (6-0) trailed after a quarter but exploded past the Red Foxes (1-4) with a 21-8 second period.

Aliyah Mazyck led USC with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while Minyon Moore added 17 points and six assists and Kristen Simon scored 16.