The easy thing would have been to fold it up and call it a career.

But Monica DeAngelis, a senior point guard for Hawaii, wasn’t done yet.

An often-frustrating, injury-riddled career at Loyola Marymount nearly put an end to DeAngelis’ desire to play the game she grew up loving. She was essentially a free agent after getting her undergraduate degree in 2012, but playing again was an afterthought.

Then she tried her hand at club coaching with the Los Angeles-based California Storm this summer. Leading the Storm’s 15-and-under team and assisting with Diana Taurasi’s squad rekindled something she’d nearly lost.

"I realized that I really love the game and I would really hate for it to end on the note that it did at LMU," DeAngelis said. "I wanted another year, basically, not to erase my memory of college basketball but to transform into something more positive."

She found that opportunity on a transformed Rainbow Wahine team under new coach Laura Beeman. A friend with island ties tipped off Beeman that DeAngelis was without a hoops home after she’d redshirted as a true freshman, then played three seasons as a Lions reserve.

Beeman needed a floor leader with experience once last year’s point guard, Alissa Campanero, left the program over the summer. She got that with the unflappable DeAngelis.

Just one problem: The 5-foot-7 shooting guard had to learn to play out of her comfort zone as a converted point guard, and she had only one year to do it as a graduate student.

The team’s turnaround season speaks to the results of that experiment.

Third-place UH (15-12, 11-5 Big West) hosts last-place UC Riverside (11-16, 4-12) today and Cal State Fullerton (9-19, 5-11) for Saturday’s senior night. UH can finish no lower than third and has an outside chance at its first regular-season title since 1997-98. The Rainbow Wahine need Cal Poly to lose twice and Pacific to lose once this week, and UH has to win its last two games.

DeAngelis knows a thing or two about long shots; her shooting background is quickly apparent. In a typical game, she’ll pull the trigger from well beyond the arc, if necessary, and has been the team’s most accurate at 32-for-94 (34 percent) from deep.

Her averages of 6.4 points and 2.2 assists per game are modest, but her overall leadership can’t be overstated while the team’s other point guard, true freshman Marissa Wimbley, learns the college ropes.

"When do you get a senior point guard come in and do what she’s done? Not very often," Beeman said.

DeAngelis is enrolled in UH’s two-year education administration program with the long-term goal of coaching or being an athletic director. She analyzes her own successes and shortcomings with the detachment of a seasoned coach.

"I still feel like I’m learning, because every game I’m still improving at the point guard position," DeAngelis said." I guess the toughest thing is learning how to truly be a pure point guard. Running the team and having that responsibility, dealing with that responsibility. Knowing that when things go wrong, it’s usually your fault. Because it is. Accepting responsibility for that, and holding yourself accountable for that."

She’s never been averse to learning. DeAngelis made the National Honor Society out of Windward School in Los Angeles. She was recruited by Ivy League schools, including Harvard, but chose LMU for its proximity to home.

An ankle injury, however, set the tone for the rest of her Lions career. She averaged 11.5 minutes and 4.2 points in 72 games.

Besides playing opportunity, her unique multi-cultural background — her father is of Italian and Hungarian descent and her mother is Chinese — made Hawaii a fit.

"I think I’m pretty lucky that some people mistake me for being local," DeAngelis said. "They always ask me what high school I went to and stuff. ‘Oh, I’m from the mainland.’ "

Regardless, she’s found a new home, and she feels like a winner again.

"I’ve never had a team like them. It’s been incredible," she said. "It’s been a blessing playing in this arena and for the state. There’s so much school pride and tradition. It’s been awesome to be a part of."