Ashleigh Karaitiana matched her season high of 16 points and the Hawaii women’s basketball team won its Big West Conference home opener 56-46 over UC Irvine tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH moved to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the BWC despite going without a 3-pointer (0-for-5). UCI (4-11, 0-3) was held to 29.1 percent shooting from the field to 41.8 percent for UH.

Junior forward Kamilah Martin had eight points with 12 rebounds to complement the 8-for-15 shooting effort and three steals of the redshirt freshman Karaitiana.

The Wahine had a 32-22 advantage in points in the paint.

UH next plays Long Beach State (9-5, 2-0) on Sunday after its annual alumnae game.