Hawaii shook off a scare from UC Riverside, then survived another frightening moment when its cornerstone player went down.
The Rainbow Wahine overcame a sluggish start to defeat the Highlanders handily, 67-54 on Thursday night behind a career-high 15 points and seven rebounds from point guard Morgan Mason and 13 points and 14 boards by forward Kamilah Jackson.
UH (12-10, 6-4 Big West) moved into sole possession of third place in the conference with six regular-season games to play. The Wahine play Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The hapless Highlanders (4-19, 0-10) got 21 points from guard Brittany Crain but that was not enough to end a school-record 16-game losing streak.
That’s not to say there weren’t moments of uncertainty.
Jackson, UH’s double-double machine, went down awkwardly on her right ankle on a drive to the basket with 16:39 to play. The senior crumpled in pain and was attended to by trainers. She managed to walk off under her own power and returned to the game a few minutes later.
Her ankle was wrapped afterward, but she was otherwise no worse for the wear.
"I feel OK. I just gotta watch out for Destiny (teammate King)," Jackson said with a laugh. "But all jokes aside, yeah I’m fine. … Destiny kind of kicked (my ankle), the other (Riverside) girl kicked it another way."
The Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 621 was hushed while Jackson lay prone on the baseline, but coach Laura Beeman wasn’t overly worried.
"I don’t overreact," Beeman said. "We’ve got a great medical staff here. When I walked up, Mia was smiling, so I knew we were OK."
Riverside sought to keep UH in the doldrums coming off its 11-day California road trip, during which the Wahine went 1-3 and lost the three games by a combined seven points.
Riverside arrived energized, while the Wahine played with malaise early coming off their marathon trip. The Highlanders jumped out to a 22-12 lead, at which point UH shot 3-for-13 from the field and committed seven turnovers in the first 13 minutes. Crain scored 11 in that stretch.
It took nearly 20 minutes, but UH finally shook off its funk and claimed a three-point lead at halftime.
Ultimately, UH crushed UCR 42-27 on the glass and 36-14 on points in the paint.
"First half we really struggled, but I liked the struggle," Beeman said. "We just missed shots. Defensively, we were on point. Second half, we just needed to get some baskets to fall. They did. Mia worked incredibly hard all night long, even when she wasn’t going to get the ball, and Morgan picked a really great night to have her career high and be able to get to the basket."
Mason earned 10 trips to the free-throw line, making seven, flashing an aggressiveness not seen to this point since arriving from Mount San Antonio College.
"In practice, the coaches always emphasize guards attacking, opening up the gaps so we can get it inside," Mason said. "I used to do that at Mt. SAC. I don’t know why I didn’t start doing that here. Yeah, kind of found my way a little bit. Just gotta finish more of them."
Reserve center Kalei Adolpho scored inside to make it 56-41 with 4:21 left. It was the junior’s first field goal of the season after going 0-for-14 in 10 previous games.
Forward Annelise Ito added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists for UCR.
BIG WEST WOMEN
| |
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| Cal Poly |
8 |
2 |
.800 |
— |
14 |
9 |
| CS Northridge |
8 |
3 |
.727 |
1⁄2 |
12 |
13 |
| Hawaii |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
2 |
12 |
10 |
| UC Irvine |
5 |
4 |
.556 |
21⁄2 |
12 |
11 |
| CS Fullerton |
5 |
4 |
.556 |
21⁄2 |
9 |
13 |
| Long Beach St. |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
3 |
13 |
11 |
| UC Davis |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
3 |
10 |
13 |
| UCSB |
2 |
7 |
.222 |
51⁄2 |
7 |
15 |
| UC Riverside |
0 |
10 |
.000 |
9 |
4 |
19 |
Thursday
Hawaii 67, UC Riverside 54
UCSB 80, Long Beach State 69
CS Northridge 83, Cal Poly 57
CS Fullerton 65, UC?Davis 62
Saturday
CS Fullerton at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Long Beach State at Cal Poly
UC Santa Barbara at CS Northridge
UC Irvine at UC Riverside
HAWAII 67, UC RIVERSIDE 54
HIGHLANDERS (4-19, 0-10 BIG WEST)
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min |
| Harewood |
1-6 |
0-0 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
20 |
| Hadley |
4-15 |
0-0 |
10 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
40 |
| Ito |
6-10 |
2-3 |
8 |
4 |
14 |
4 |
2 |
40 |
| DeCoud |
1-11 |
4-4 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
36 |
| Crain |
9-13 |
2-3 |
3 |
2 |
21 |
0 |
1 |
40 |
| Martin |
1-2 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
| Wallace |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| Nyingifa |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| TEAM |
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
| Totals |
22-58 |
8-10 |
27 |
19 |
54 |
13 |
10 |
200 |
RAINBOW WAHINE (12-10, 6-4 BIG WEST)
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min |
| Jackson |
4-11 |
5-6 |
14 |
2 |
13 |
1 |
7 |
26 |
| King |
2-4 |
3-4 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
| Haydel |
2-5 |
2-2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
34 |
| Kuehu |
3-7 |
0-0 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
21 |
| Mason |
4-9 |
7-10 |
7 |
3 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
30 |
| Wimbley |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| Harris |
1-3 |
2-3 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
| Karaitiana |
4-7 |
0-0 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
22 |
| Kailiawa |
2-4 |
0-0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
| Adolpho |
1-2 |
0-0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
| TEAM |
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
| Totals |
23-53 |
19-25 |
42 |
16 |
67 |
11 |
14 |
200 |
Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime — Hawaii 28, UCR 25. 3-point goals — UCR 2-8 (Martin 1-2, Crain 1-3, DeCoud 0-3). Hawaii 2-7 (Haydel 1-1, Karatiana 1-1, Wimbley 0-1, Kailiawa 0-1, Kuehu 0-1, Harris 0-2). Steals — UCR 3 (Crain 2, Ito). Hawaii 5 (Haydel, Kuehu, Mason, Karatiana, Kailiawa). Blocked shots — UCR 1 (DeCoud). Hawaii 2 (Jackson 2). Technical foul — none. Officials — Charles Gonzalez, Cathi Cornell, Partick Black-Santiago. A — 621.
