Wahine get back to business on road

A happy Hawaii senior night couldn’t be cherished for long.

The Rainbow Wahine were off to the mainland within just a handful of hours after their 73-60 defeat of UC Santa Barbara at the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday night. UH concludes the regular season on a tough two-day turnaround at Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

"Very quick turnaround tomorrow. … Again, we’re used to this kind of travel," coach Laura Beeman said after seniors Kamilah Jackson, Sydney Haydel, Pua Kailiawa and Diane Moore were traditionally honored.

"They can sleep for a long time tomorrow," she added with a laugh.

Before the game at Titan Gym tips off, UH (16-11, 10-5) will know if it still has a shot at the No. 2 Big West seed and a double bye in the conference tournament. Cal Poly would have to lose at UCSB in a game that starts four hours before UH’s, then the Wahine would have to defeat the Titans (11-17, 7-8).

If UH loses at CSUF, it will receive either the No. 3 or 4 seed, depending on whether UC Davis wins at home over UC Irvine in another Saturday game; Davis will leapfrog UH in seeding if they both finish at 10-6 due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Cal State Northridge (12-4) has already completed its regular season and locked up the No. 1 seed.

Beeman won’t turn down the double bye, but has said she is comfortable with the single bye should things shake out that way.

Regardless of whether UH opens in the second round as the No. 3 or 4 seed on Wednesday at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid, or in the semifinals on Friday at the Honda Center as the No. 2, the Wahine are staying on the mainland after the Fullerton game.

"I think we showed (Thursday) that we can stay focused in big games, and we’re just going to take this onto the road and you know, into the tournament," Haydel said. "We know what we have to do. We know we have to win games and we have to stay focused. So that’s what we’re going to continue to do."

Jackson, the team’s leading scorer (15.5 ppg) and rebounder (9.7), has missed five straight games with a sprained right foot.

"We’ll just take it day by day and see what happens," Jackson said.

Shawna Kuehu exited early on senior night with a bruised left knee. Beeman moved to insert her back into the game during the second-half, but waved the co-captain back before she checked in because she wasn’t moving fluidly to the scorers table.

"She could have played if I wanted her to, but no sense," Beeman said.

UH wound up with a career-high 17 points from Moore in the victory.

UH beat Fullerton 65-52 on Feb. 15, the first game Jackson missed due to injury. One more victory will match UH’s total of 17 from last season, Beeman’s first as coach.