Standout Kuehu shunned as Big West player of the year

Big West Conference women’s basketball coaches hardly knew what to do with the versatile Shawna-Lei Kuehu coming off the University of Hawaii bench during the regular season.

And, judging from the conference player of the year voting, they had little clue in what to do with her on the ballot, either.

In the Rainbow Wahine’s remarkable 14-2 run to the conference title, Kuehu shattered both defenses and conventional thought. Proof of her value was that the only two games UH lost in the Big West were the ones she was absent from due to injury.

Yet, Monday the player of the year honors went to Brittany Crain, who propelled UC Riverside to a … fifth-place finish and sixth seed in this week’s conference tournament?

Never before in the conference’s 31-year history had somebody from a fifth-place team won the award. A .500 (8-8) team in this case.

History tells us that, mostly, the honor has gone to a representative of the championship team. Occasionally somebody from a second-place team. Very rarely a representative of a third- or fourth-place team might sneak in.

Of course, perhaps never before has one of its teams had somebody who came off the bench quite like Kuehu or who led her team with such force of will and personality.

To be sure, Crain, a junior guard, has had an outstanding season, leading the conference in scoring at 22.1 points per game. But with — or without — Crain the Highlanders still aren’t a winning team in the conference.

Kuehu, meanwhile, was a poster player for the selflessness that the Rainbow Wahine were all about. In an overall 22-7 season, she led in five major categories, including scoring (12.0), rebounding (6.4), assists (2.7), steals (39) and blocked shots (35). And, one more: games voluntarily not started.

When Kuehu came back from a midseason injury, "she made the decision to put the team first," coach Laura Beeman said. "She said, ‘Coach, the (lineup) is playing well. I can come off the bench with Megan (Huff), Briana (Harris) and Sarah (Toeaina) … and we can have a strong second punch."

Beeman said, "She was absolutely right."

Kuehu, who started just one game in the Big West season, was the team’s best shooter in conference, connecting on 54 percent of her shots, and likely could have filled up the basket had she let the ball fly more indiscriminately.

"We could have given Shawna the ball to shoot 20-30 times a game (she shot 7.06 times per game in conference), she would have had 25 points a game — and we probably would have lost a lot more games," Beeman said. "But that’s not what we do. We’re at our best when we play team basketball and tough defense, and Shawna is the anchor and a catalyst for that. Her whole existence, if you will, has been about our team winning games and winning the conference."

And, now, you get the feeling the team wants to win one for her. "This is not from Shawna’s mouth, this is from mine, but I think a lion has been let out of the cage — and rightfully so," Beeman said. "As players and as a coaching staff, we feel she deserved it."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.