Sleeping in was for other people on New Year’s morning.

After celebrating the arrival of 2015, University of Hawaii women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman began the year with a 5 a.m. wake up to review tape in preparation for practice later Thursday morning.

A day after fending off Hawaii Pacific, the Rainbow Wahine went back to work on the holiday in advance of Friday’s game against UNC Greensboro at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"They did a great job today," Beeman said after the team’s two-hour on-court session. "It could have been a really difficult day and they came in and had pretty good attitudes and pretty good energy."

Come Friday’s 5 p.m. tip off, Beeman expects the Wahine (7-5) will have to deal with a hectic pace against UNC Greensboro (5-9) in their final nonconference game before opening Big West play next week.

"Pressure, pressure and more pressure," Beeman said of what the Wahine are likely to face against the Spartans, who average 12.1 steals per game. "I also anticipate they’re going put their heads down and attack us big time and really try to be physical with us on the boards."

After practice, the Wahine had a review session scheduled to go over tape of their 76-68 win over HPU Wednesday afternoon.

UH made just four of its first 16 shots from the field while falling behind by nine against the Sharks. But the Wahine shot 60.5 percent (23-for-38) the rest of the way and were led by Shawna-Lei Kuehu’s 26-point effort. Kuehu made nine of 14 shots from the field and went 8-for-11 from the free-throw line to increase her team-leading scoring average to 13.3 points per game.

After facing a relatively deliberate HPU attack, the Wahine will have to shift gears quickly against a UNC Greensboro team that Beeman said could present challenges similar to those posed by UH’s upcoming Big West opponents.

"We’re going to see some athleticism that we’re going to see in the Big West and we have to play better," Beeman said. "I just want to see improvement."

UH guard Morgan Mason practiced on Thursday after sitting out the HPU game. Beeman said she anticipates Mason, who is tied for second on the team with 11 points per game, will be back in action on Friday but called it a gametime decision.

In any case, freshman Sarah Toeaina could remain part of UH’s first five after posting 10 points and six rebounds on Wednesday in her first start of the season.

"I may shake up the starting lineup, not because I’m upset with anybody but just to get a little bit of a different look and get different people off the bench to get a flow in the game," Beeman said.

"We have to clean some things up with what Sarah does offensively, but she plays really, really hard and she tries to make adjustments and that’s all I can ask of them."

UNC Greensboro of the Southern Conference enters the game having lost four of its last five. Junior guard Lucy Mason leads the Spartans with 13.7 points per game and is second on the team with 29 steals. Senior forward Jarae Savage averages 12.8 points coming off the bench and leads UNCG with 37 steals.

Two leave Wahine program

Beeman confirmed that junior forward Raja Moreno-Ross and freshman center Angelina Smith have left the program.

Smith requested a release to transfer to Division II Adams State in Colorado, where she will be immediately eligible. Beeman said Moreno-Ross left for "personal reasons."

"We’re sad as a team and as a program to lose her," Beeman said. "I don’t anticipate her returning. It’s not with any kind of ill will, I just wish her the best."

Moreno-Ross had appeared in five games as a reserve and recorded six points and seven rebounds. Smith played in seven games last year before receiving a medical hardship, but hadn’t appeared in a game this season.

Freshman Megan Huff, a member of the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, made her debut with the basketball team on Wednesday. The 6-foot-3 center played seven minutes, went 0-for-2 from the field and grabbed a rebound.