Eighth-ranked Hawaii went into its water polo home opener Wednesday worried about its defense as well as 18th-ranked Michigan, which upset the Rainbow Wahine a year ago in the closing minutes.

In a 9-3 blowout at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex, UH could have — probably should have — shut out the Wolverines in the first half. Senior All-American Monika Eggens outscored them.

Eggens scored Hawaii’s first three goals, her seventh hat trick of the year, and finished with four. The Wahine (7-5) also got goals from four other players, including two from senior Amarens Genee. Goalie Amy Carlson had a season-high nine saves.

The Wolverines (4-10), with 12 freshmen, only got frustrated. They trail the UH series 11-2, but had won two of the past three. Four of the past five had been decided by a goal, including last year’s Hawaii heartbreaker.

But on Wednesday, the Wahine played suffocating defense from the opening splash. They struggled to score early, but got two Eggens’ power-play goals in the final two minutes of the opening quarter and never trailed.

What difference did a year make?

"Monika is back," Michigan coach Matt Anderson said. "In all seriousness, she is definitely one of the top three players in college and could be the best player. I know she’s the best shooter. She is clearly the difference why Hawaii is odds-on to win the Big West. With Monika, they can beat anybody. She is that much of a presence."

A year ago, Eggens was trying to help the Canadian national team qualify for the Olympics. Now she is doing her spectacular best to help the Wahine win the Big West in their first season in the conference.

They lost to UC Irvine, which has won all four BWC championships, two weeks ago when their defense let them down. They open league play against the sixth-ranked Anteaters next week and get to see if Wednesday’s defensive shutdown was for real.

"Our defense was spectacular," Carlson said. "There are definitely areas we need to improve in, but for the most part we did what our coaches asked. We talked to each other and worked hard."

Kiki Golden, who scored two of Michigan’s goals, squeezed one in with four seconds left in the first quarter. The Wahine scored the next six, two straight as the shot clock ran out, from freshman Paula Chillida Esforzado and sophomore Caity Lopes da Silva.

"I wish the (35-second) shot clock was 34 seconds," Anderson said, shaking his head.

There would be no second-half rally. The UH offense stalled somewhat, mostly by design. The defense never stopped.

"When you can hold a team to three goals, it’s a good day," UH coach Maureen Cole said. "Our goalie did great and our defense was the best it’s been. They were communicating. We had no real breakdowns. It’s encouraging to see going into Big West."

The Wolverines have been here since Friday, on their spring break. The Wahine don’t play at home again until their spring break, facing top-ranked USC on March 23.

First, it is Irvine next Thursday.

"We need to play great defense again," Cole said. "Our offense struggled against them (the Anteaters). They play a very active defense. We play (ninth-ranked) Long Beach the next day, which plays a lot of zone. Irvine really presses and Long Beach a lot of zone. We’ll have to prepare for both."

Carlson put it simpler: "We just have to be the team we were tonight."

Eggens, who leads the Big West in scoring, is now 52 goals behind UH career leader Kelly Mason.