Respect was earned within the Big West Conference last season. Now Hawaii looks to retain it.

The Rainbow Wahine will try to build on their successful 2013 conference campaign in an immediate tester in tonight’s Big West opener against Cal Poly at the Stan Sheriff Center, UH’s first home game in 38 days.

With last year’s regular-season champion Pacific gone to the West Coast Conference, Cal Poly was tabbed to win the league in the preseason poll, followed by UH. Though 16 games will decide the top seed in the Big West tournament in mid-March, this contest could be a harbinger of supremacy over the next two months.

"I think Cal Poly’s gotta be thinking the same thing," second-year UH coach Laura Beeman said on Tuesday. "Hawaii, at Hawaii, opening game. We’re picked No. 2. We gave them battles last year. We’re basically the same team, with a couple new additions. They lost a little bit (of their core), but very good and deserving of that No. 1 spot. Coming out the doors, Hawaii-Cal Poly, I think everyone’s going to be watching that matchup tomorrow night."

Neither team compiled a gaudy nonconference record — UH is 6-6 and Cal Poly is 6-7 — but they both played tough schedules. Several of the best individual players in the league will be on display; Rainbow Wahine forward Kamilah Jackson (16.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg), the fourth-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder in the Big West, must contend with the returning Big West player of the year, 6-foot-5 senior center Molly Schlemer. Schlemer is third in the league in scoring (17.8) and first in rebounding (10.8) and has 6 inches on Jackson. Mustangs junior guard Ariana Elegado is also dangerous at 15.5 points and 4.6 assists per game.

There is no clear-cut favorite to win the league. Only one Big West team, Long Beach State (8-6), emerged from the pre-conference schedule with a winning record. UH lost three of its last four, all on the road in December, but is still off to its best start since 2006-07. Cal Poly is on a three-game losing streak, all tough away games.

Hawaii and Cal Poly tied for second in the conference last year at 13-5. Hawaii finished 17-14 overall and qualified for the WNIT for the first time in a decade.

"I think last year taught us to earn our respect," sophomore Destiny King said. "I think this year will make us keep our respect, basically. I think if we continue to elevate our game … last year was about effort. This year is about effort and execution."

Cal Poly has been one of the more consistent contenders in Big West women’s basketball. It has won either the regular-season or tournament championship in each of the past three seasons, and Mustangs players have received the past four Big West Player of the Year awards.

UH and Cal Poly split their 2013 home-and-home meetings in Honolulu and San Luis Obispo. But the Wahine had softball-pitcher-to-hoops-center Stephanie Ricketts to bang in the post with Schlemer last time. With Ricketts gone, Beeman will count on 6-2 reserve centers Kalei Adolpho and Pua Kailiawa to hold Schlemer in check.

That, along with plenty of zone defense and frequent double teams.

"I really believe it’s going to come down to what Hawaii team shows up," Beeman said. "Is it going to be the Hawaii team that’s timid and kind of waits to see what happens, or is it going to be the Hawaii team that’s scrappy and goes out and creates the environment and action?"

Cal Poly leads the league in scoring at 74.9 points per game, while Hawaii comes in at a much more pedestrian 64.8. However, the Mustangs have allowed plenty of points (league-worst 78.8) and UH has defended well, allowing 66.2.

A major rotational shift of late has been the slotting of King at point guard out of necessity; ballhandlers Morgan Mason and Briana Harris have dealt with injuries. Mason is available in limited spurts and Harris is still coming back from an ankle sprain.

"Wherever it’s needed, then I’ll be there," King said.

UH follows with a 5 p.m. game against Cal State Northridge on Sunday. UH’s annual alumnae game precedes it at 2 p.m.