The open looks were there. So were the put-back chances.
While Hawaii wasn’t particularly successful at either on Friday night — shooting just 36 percent from the floor — what hurt the Rainbow Wahine the most were their lapses in scoring.
No. 14 California more than took advantage of those droughts at the Stan Sheriff Center, holding off Hawaii 79-72 in the second game of the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic. It was a battle of unbeatens made even more intriguing — and closer — in the final three minutes by Hawaii’s late scoring run and the ejection of Golden Bears coach Lindsey Gottlieb following a double technical with 24.4 seconds to go.
Rainbow Wahine senior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu had a career night with 29 points and 15 rebounds, but it was not enough to outweigh Cal’s balanced scoring. Freshman forward Mikayla Cowling came off the bench for a team-high 18 to lead four teammates in double figures.
"It was a tough loss," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said after her team dropped its home opener. "While you’re never happy with a loss, overall the girls did a fantastic job. We missed too many layups and open shots.
"The difficult part was we were getting defensive stops but we weren’t getting rewarded on the offensive end. I liked our aggressive effort. Hopefully we can continue that."
Hawaii (2-1) has a day off before getting its next chance. The Rainbow Wahine face UNLV (2-1) on Sunday at 7 p.m. The Rebels fell to Missouri 68-45 in Friday’s opener.
Sophomore forward Jordan Frericks scored 16 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers (3-0), who face the Golden Bears (3-0) Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
"The best thing about tonight was it was a team effort," said Kuehu, who played all but five minutes. "We more than held our own, matching their energy. We were scrappy.
"Cal came in with their name on their jerseys, but we had Hawaii on ours. We had them on their heels at times."
Hawaii had energy early, leading 16-9. Cal answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead at 17-16 and, after the Wahine went back up at 24-22, the Bears went on a tear.
Taking advantage of Kuehu’s absence, Cal outscored Hawaii 13-0 over the next four minutes to take the lead for good at 35-24. The Wahine had to play catchup the rest of the night, trailing by as many as 15 with five minutes left in the game.
Hawaii cut it to nine with 3:06 left on a basket by Kuehu and looked to have gotten the ball on a out-of-bounds call. The call was over-ruled with Cowling making good on the inbounds pass and converting a 3-point play for a 73-61 lead.
Ashleigh Karaitiana’s basket cut it to 73-67 with 1:46 to go. Karaitiana hit three of four free-throw attempts on the double technical to make it 77-70 and Kuehu added another basket, but the Wahine simply ran out of time.
Karaitiana finished with 14 points to go with 11 rebounds as Hawaii tied Cal on the boards 47-47, with a 16-11 margin in offensive rebounds.
Hawaii may be without freshman guard Morgan Mason, the team’s leading scorer, for a while due to an ankle injury. She had seven points in 15 minutes Friday night.
Missouri 68, UNLV 45
Frericks had 12 of her points and eight of her rebounds in the first half as the Tigers rolled out to a 48-24 lead at intermission. Mizzou dominated the boards early as well, with a 29-15 edge after the first 20 minutes.
Senior guard Danielle Miller led UNLV with 23 points, the only Rebel in double figures.
| CALIFORNIA 79, HAWAII 72 |
| BEARS (3-0) |
| |
min |
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
| Gray |
18 |
3-7 |
9-12 |
3 |
5 |
15 |
| Range |
29 |
6-12 |
1-3 |
9 |
5 |
14 |
| Jefflo |
29 |
3-10 |
0-0 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
| Boyd |
36 |
4-14 |
9-13 |
4 |
2 |
17 |
| Green |
38 |
3-7 |
0-3 |
8 |
2 |
8 |
| Cowling |
28 |
6-10 |
4-5 |
9 |
4 |
18 |
| Davidson |
11 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Hartman |
11 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| TEAM |
|
|
|
7 |
| Totals |
200 |
25-61 |
23-36 |
47 |
24 |
79 |
| |
| RAINBOW WAHINE (2-1) |
| |
min |
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
| King |
23 |
1-7 |
0-0 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
| Morris |
27 |
1-4 |
1-2 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
| Kuehu |
35 |
10-23 |
9-14 |
15 |
2 |
29 |
| Karaitiana |
40 |
5-19 |
3-4 |
11 |
2 |
14 |
| Mason |
15 |
3-4 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
| Wimbley |
4 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Harris |
10 |
0-1 |
3-4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| Toeaina |
12 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| Sampton |
7 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Segovia |
27 |
3-11 |
1-2 |
6 |
4 |
8 |
| TEAM |
|
|
|
1 |
| Totals |
200 |
19-65 |
17-26 |
46 |
23 |
60 |
Key — min: minutes played; fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points. Halftime — California 43, Hawaii 33 3-point goals — California 6-18 (Cowling 2-3, Green 2-5, Range 1-3, Jefflo 1-5, Boyd 0-2). Hawaii 3-14 (Mason 1-1, Segovia 1-2, Karaitiana 1-8, Harris 0-1, King 0-2). Steals — California 1 (Jefflo). Hawaii 6 (Mason 3, Kuehu, Karaitiana, Segovia). Turnovers — California 14 (Jefflo 5, Boyd 3, Cowling 3, Hartman 2, Gray). Hawaii 14 (Karaitiana 4, Kuehu 3, King 2, Harris 2, Sampton 2, Segovia). Assists — California 15 (Boyd 9, Jefflo 2, Cowling 2, Green, Davidson). Hawaii 7 (Karaitiana 3, Kuehu 2, Morris, Segovia). Blocked shots — California 3 (Gray, Jefflo, Green). Hawaii 3 (Kuehu 2, Morris). Technical fouls — California 2 (TEAM 2). Hawaii none. Officials — Skelly Wingard, Kimberly Hobbs, Ethan Kahoano. A — 1,828.
