In her first two years, Laura Beeman borrowed from within the Hawaii athletic department to supplement the Rainbow Wahine basketball team’s post depth.
The Wahine appear to be self-sufficient in that respect this season.
"The depth we’re going to have inside is going to be probably the most significant change from last year’s team," Beeman said.
The Rainbow Wahine officially open preparations for Beeman’s third season as head coach with a 7 a.m. practice Monday and figure to have a more imposing presence when they walk onto the Stan Sheriff Center court.
UH’s frontcourt rotation was bolstered by former softball standout Stephanie Ricketts in Beeman’s first year, while Kalei Adolpho joined the team after volleyball season each of the past three years.
Fortifying the post was a priority for the Rainbow Wahine coaching staff and they enter practice with seven players 6-foot or taller –up from four last year — with 6-4 transfer Connie Morris topping the roster.
Where the newcomers add depth and height, there remains the sizable task of filling the void left by the departure of forward Kamilah Jackson. At 5-11, Jackson did her work against taller opponents for much of her career and finished fourth in program history with 1,548 points and second in rebounds with 1,176.
"Replacing Mia was going to be difficult, we knew that,"Beeman said. "I don’t know if we have replaced her because of her productivity for her size. But we definitely have people who are big, can get on the boards, can finish around the basket and we don’t have just one, but we have two or three now."
Integrating the additions into a roster featuring three returning starters will be a focal point in the practices leading up to the Nov. 14 opener at Colorado State.
Shawna-Lei Kuehu, who was granted a sixth-year of eligibility in the offseason, and Ashleigh Karaitiana both averaged just over 10 points per game last season and form the team’s leadership core. Junior Destiny King led the Wahine with 72 assists and senior point guard Morgan Mason started 20 games in her first Division I season.
Although Monday will be their first opportunity to work together as a full roster, Beeman got an idea of their skills and chemistry during individual workouts and conditioning sessions.
"This team gets along very well with each other," Beeman said. "They like each other and because of that they’re working incredibly hard."
Maintaining motivation probably won’t be an issue for a team looking to take the next step following back-to-back 17-win seasons and WNIT appearances.
"We’re tired of the WNIT,"Beeman said. "Postseason play, you never balk at it, you always want to go, but I don’t want to go to the WNIT again and neither do they and that’s kind of the motivation that’s getting them to work hard and stay focused."
