Odumu’s buy-in attitude provides a pickup for Wahine hoops

Reason for optimism has been in short supply for the Rainbow Wahine basketball team of late.

When Hawaii needs a pick me up — which has been often considering a 2-8 Big West record — the Wahine know where to go.

Junior guard Rachel Odumu, a transfer from Monmouth who redshirted last season, has embraced the role of defensive specialist on the court. The co-captain’s secondary responsibility of being an uplifting presence is a constant on the floor, the bench or the locker room.

“As a captain and this being my fourth year playing Division I basketball, yes, I think it naturally falls on (me),” Odumu said. “I always try to have an optimistic outlook and mind-set. Do I sometimes get frustrated? Yes. And sometimes my mind goes, and that’s just the ups and downs of basketball. But trying to stay and be a role model on and off the court, to the younger players or if some of our senior leaders are having a tough game … they can bounce things off of me, and I can try to make the mood light and get their head out of everything they’re thinking of and on the win we’re supposed to get.”

Odumu’s value has become apparent to coach Laura Beeman, who’s granted her a starting spot in the last three games heading into tonight’s home matchup with Cal State Fullerton (7-14, 2-6). The 5-foot-9 London native — she moved to Virginia when she was 4 — averages just 3.3 points per game but comes up with a hustle play roughly the same number of times.

Beeman has attempted to keep things light in practice amid the ever-growing pile of losses, which included getting swept at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara last week. Easier said than done.

“I think a lot of people talk about buying into roles, and then there are actually players who buy into roles,” Beeman said. “She’s one of those kids who’s absolutely bought into her role. She knows she’s a defensive specialist, she knows that she’s going to find our offense through defense or be very, very patient within our offense.

“(That) allows her to stay optimistic, it allows her to understand that what she’s doing is part of the solution. And I think when you do that as a player, you feel better. We’re going to continue to rely on her energy and her optimism. She’s going to continue to get a lot of playing time and hopefully her offense can continue to grow, because we definitely need that defensive spark from her, and her optimism.”

Fullerton snapped a seven-game UH streak in the series, 69-57, at Titan Gym in January. But the Titans have dropped five straight since their 2-1 BWC start under first-year coach Jeff Harada, the former Hawaii Pacific head coach. UH has won the last six meetings at the Sheriff.

Beeman remains at 99 wins, on the cusp of becoming the second coach in program history to reach triple-digit victories in Manoa (Vince Goo, 334).

Somehow, Odumu’s mood has increasingly brightened as the Wahine fell to eighth place in the standings and remained there with six games to play before the Big West tournament.

“I don’t think it’s been a challenge. I think it’s ever-growing,” she said. “We have dropped a couple tough ones, but the mood is, we have such a mood of hope. It’s our time. And putting those quarters together and getting the win, it’s inevitable, it’s coming soon. And hopefully it’s coming this Thursday.”