Taking a page out of Oregon’s Rose Bowl playbook, the Hawaii women’s basketball team was uptempo on offense, aggressive on defense and focused on starting off the new year the same way it finished the old year: with a victory.

Outside of not keeping one resolution for the entire 40 minutes — that of cutting down on turnovers — the Rainbow Wahine walked out of the Stan Sheriff Center fairly satisfied with ending their nonconference schedule with a 74-54 win over UNC Greenboro. A holiday-season afternoon crowd of 688 watched Hawaii (8-5) have four players in double-digit scoring, led by senior Shawna-Lei Kuehu’s 17, and eight players in double-digit minutes.

"The good today was our energy, especially coming off a poorly played game Wednesday," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said, referencing the ragged 76-68 win over Hawaii Pacific on New Year’s Eve. "We were much more efficient today, had good communication and were able to make the slight adjustments we needed to make with the different lineups we had out there.

"The bad? You’ll look at the 23 turnovers … but some of those were lack of focus. This team is hungry to improve and that’s always a good sign."

Another encouraging sign is the continuing improvement of freshman guard Sarah Toeaina. In her second consecutive start, Toeaina finished with 11 points and just one turnover in a career-high 32 minutes, the most time of any Wahine on Friday.

There also was the continued solid play of seniors Morgan Mason and Ashleigh Karaitiana. They both had 11 points, with Mason returning to the starting lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s victory over HPU and Karaitiana coming off the bench for the first time this season.

"There is a difference with (Mason) on the court," said Kuehu, who finished with nine rebounds, one shy of what would have been her fourth double-double this season. "She brings composure, she isn’t too high or too low, even when it gets chaotic out there."

Morgan said the same of Kuehu, who left with 6:11 remaining with a minor shoulder injury when she fouled Jarae Savage.

"With her, we have that offensive threat, that key figure on offense," said Mason, who had four assists and five rebounds and was 7-for-10 from the line.

Kuehu played just seven minutes in the second half, with 11 points coming in the first 20 minutes as Hawaii took a 37-17 lead. The Wahine, who never trailed, extended the margin to as many as 29 points (61-32), with the Spartans (5-10) cutting it to under 20 just three times in the second half, the last at 67-49 with 4:27 left.

UNCG had four players in double figures, led by junior guard Lucy Mason’s 17, all coming in the second half. Senior guard Jessica Collins added 12 and Savage finished with 10.

Spartans coach Wendy Palmer was none too pleased with her team’s loss, its third straight and fifth in six games.

"Hawaii did a great job at attacking us early on and … we have a lot of stuff to clean up," she said. "I can’t say what I got out of tonight. I’m not happy."

Beeman had a different feeling.

"I feel good heading into conference play," she said.

The Wahine will do so on the road against two of the top teams in the Big West. Hawaii leaves Tuesday and will open at Cal Poly on Thursday and Cal State Northridge two days later. The Matadors were picked to win the conference, with the Wahine second and the Mustangs third in the preseason media poll.

Note

Freshman Megan Huff, who played volleyball for UH this fall, played nine minutes in her second basketball game. She had three points and four rebounds.

Key — min: minutes played; fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points.

Halftime — Hawaii 37, UNC Greensboro 17

3-point goals — UNC Greensboro 4-17 (Collins 2-7, Mason 2-7, Williams 0-1, Luckie 0-2). Hawaii 2-8 (Toeaina 1-1, Karaitiana 1-3, Jones 0-1, Redmon 0-1, Harris 0-2). Steals — UNC Greensboro 13 (Savage 4, Mason 2, Williams 2, Wilson 2, Missouri 2, Timpton). Hawaii 8 (Kuehu 4, Toeaina, Sampton, King, Harris). Turnovers — UNC Greensboro 18 (Scaife 5, Collins 3, Mason 2, Williams 2, Missouri 2, Foster 2, Savage, Team). Hawaii 23 (Kuehu 5, Harris 5, King 4, Mason 2, Huff 2, Toeaina, Wimbley, Redmon, Karaitiana, Morris). Assists — UNC Greensboro 8 (Mason 2, Williams 2, Timpton 2, Savage, Bartley). Hawaii 10 (Mason 4, Redmon 2, Kuehu, King, Harris, Morris). Blocked shots — UNC Greensboro 4 (Wilson 3, Timpton). Hawaii 6 (Kuehu 2, Morris 2, Mason, Huff). Technical fouls — UNC Greensboro none. Hawaii none. Officials — Crystal Hogan, Steve Belnap, Patrick Black-Santiago. A — 688.