Wahine tighten grip on third seed

With a top-four conference finish on the line, Hawaii was solid from the line.

And when the game was on the line? The Rainbow Wahine were very, very solid.

Hawaii sank 14 of 16 free throws in the final 6 minutes, 50 seconds — six of eight in the last 59 seconds — and finished 24-for-28 from the line to turn back Cal State Northridge 69-60 in a Big West women’s basketball game Saturday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center. A season-high crowd of 1,872 saw the Wahine (15-12, 11-5 Big West) all but lock up the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament courtesy of four players in double-figure scoring.

Junior guard Kamilah Martin finished with a team-high 15 points before fouling out for just the second time this year. Junior guard Sydney Haydel added 13; and freshman forward Ashleigh Karaitiana and junior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu each had 12, Kuehu completing the double-double with 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end.

Now, with two home games remaining to close out the season, "We need to work on our consistency, play our game and not let opponents dictate what we do," said Haydel, who shot 5-for-6 from the floor with four steals. "We need to continue to get better because the teams we’re going to be playing are getting better.

"We want to peak by postseason and get better at closing out games."

The Matadors (13-15, 7-9) made things interesting late in the second half after Hawaii jumped ahead at 52-39 with a little more than five minutes to go. When sophomore guard Ashlee Guay hit her second 3-pointer with less than three minutes, CSUN narrowed the gap to 63-59 with 50 seconds left.

Hawaii held. Senior center Stephanie Ricketts hit her only shot off a feed from Kuehu, and Kuehu then finished the Wahine scoring with four free throws in three trips to the line.

Ricketts’ basket was one of three keys to the victory, according to first-year Hawaii coach Laura Beeman. The others were the 85.7 percent free-throw shooting — the Wahine came in averaging 68.7 percent — and the 3-pointer by senior point Monica DeAngelis as the shot clock expired with 1:43 remaining, Hawaii’s only 3-pointer in eight attempts.

"Steph’s an All-American, she knows how to win ballgames," Beeman said of Ricketts, the former Wahine All-America softball pitcher who had a block, a steal and three rebounds in 10 minutes. "She came in for Miah (Jackson) and did what she needed to do.

"I was happy with our free-throw shooting. If we shoot our average, we lose that game. And it’s not the first time Monica has hit a shot with the clock running out. That was a key shot because they scored quickly on the other end."

It took just nine seconds before Kalani High product Violet Alama maneuvered into the paint for a basket and a foul. But she missed a chance at the three-point play after missing the free throw, something that haunted CSUN — the worst free-throw-shooting team in the Big West (62 percent) — after finishing 13-for-24 from the line.

Alama, a senior forward, finished with 14 points for CSUN. Guay led the Matadors with 17 and sophomore guard Janae Sharpe added 15.

"We really believed that we could come back in the game until maybe 20 seconds was left; we were still fighting to the very end," Alama said. "It’s an honor to play my last road game of my career in the place where I started my career."

The Wahine close out the regular season at home Thursday against UC Riverside and Saturday with Cal State Fullerton.