A shorthanded University of Hawaii women’s basketball team nearly overcame two notable absences before falling to Cal Poly 70-65 in its Big West Conference opener on Thursday in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
With leading scorer Shawna-Lei Kuehu and one of its top reserves, Sarah Toeaina, on the bench, the Rainbow Wahine (8-6, 0-1) stayed with Cal Poly by hitting a season-high eight 3-pointers with Briana Harris draining a career-high five and leading UH with 15 points at Mott Athletics Center.
But Cal Poly guard Ariana Elegado, who averaged 20 points in three wins over UH last season, continued to bedevil the Rainbow Wahine with 19 points. Forward Hannah Gilbert added 18 for the Mustangs (6-7, 1-0), who extended their winning streak against the Wahine to five.
"I hate losing, disappointed with the loss, but I’m incredibly proud of this team," UH coach Laura Beeman said.
Kuehu entered conference play averaging a team-high 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and had a streak of 77 consecutive appearances and 25 starts snapped on Thursday. Toeaina was coming off back-to-back double-digit scoring nights.
Beeman declined to comment on their ailments and said their availability for Saturday’s game at Cal State Northridge will be a game-time decision, "but we’re moving forward as if we’re not going to have them until next weekend," she said.
Destiny King scored 11 points and Morgan Mason had 10 for UH.
Despite the overall shooting struggles, UH kept pace with Cal Poly with its most productive night of the season from 3-point range.
Harris drained three 3-pointers in the first half, the third tying the game at 17-17. Both teams struggled to score the rest of the half and went into the break knotted at 29.
"Coming in off the bench, Coach Beeman said, ‘they’re going to sag off of you so just let it fly," Harris said.
UH trailed 62-60 with 4:18 left, but Cal Poly guard Rachel Koehler extended the lead with a putback and scored twice more following UH turnovers to give Cal Poly an eight-point lead with 1:13 left. Harris’ fifth 3-pointer drew UH to 68-65 with 19 seconds left but Cal Poly managed to fend off the comeback attempt.
BIG WEST WOMEN
| |
Conference |
Overall |
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| Long Beach St. |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
14 |
1 |
| CS Fullerton |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
7 |
7 |
| Cal Poly |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
6 |
7 |
| UC Davis |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
6 |
7 |
| UCSB |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
0 |
13 |
| Hawaii |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
8 |
6 |
| CSUN |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
10 |
5 |
| UC Riverside |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
9 |
6 |
| UC Irvine |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
3 |
13 |
Thursday
Cal Poly 70, Hawaii 65
CS Fullerton 58, UC Riverside 49
UC Davis 60, CS Northridge 49
Long Beach State 57, UC Irvine 40
Saturday
Hawaii at CSUN, 2 p.m.
Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara
UC Davis at Long Beach State
UC Irvine at UC Riverside
| CAL POLY 70, HAWAII 65 |
| Rainbow Wahine (8-6, 0-1) |
| |
min |
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
| Sampton |
16 |
0-1 |
2-3 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
| King |
32 |
3-13 |
5-6 |
7 |
3 |
11 |
| Morris |
21 |
2-4 |
3-4 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
| Karaitiana |
40 |
4-14 |
0-0 |
9 |
2 |
9 |
| Mason |
19 |
3-9 |
2-4 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
| Wimbley |
15 |
1-3 |
2-2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| Harris |
22 |
5-9 |
0-0 |
3 |
3 |
15 |
| Huff |
20 |
0-3 |
5-6 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
|
| Segovia |
15 |
1-4 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| TEAM |
|
|
|
9 |
| Totals |
200 |
19-60 |
19-25 |
47 |
17 |
65 |
| |
| Mustangs (6-7, 1-0) |
| |
min |
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
| Garza |
21 |
4-6 |
0-0 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
| Gilbert |
40 |
9-20 |
0-0 |
6 |
4 |
18 |
| Elegado |
37 |
5-15 |
7-8 |
5 |
0 |
19 |
| Ale |
22 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Leaupepe, L. |
12 |
1-9 |
0-0 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
| Sanchez |
3 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lipton |
2 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Leaupepe, D. |
21 |
3-9 |
7-8 |
6 |
1 |
13 |
| Balbierz |
24 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| Evans |
5 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Koehler |
13 |
3-4 |
0-0 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
| TEAM |
|
|
|
9 |
| Totals |
200 |
26-67 |
15-18 |
39 |
22 |
70 |
Halftime — Hawaii 29, Cal Poly 29
3-point goals — Hawaii 8 (Harris 5, Mason 2, Karaitiana). Cal Poly 3 (Elegado 2, Evans). Steals — Hawaii 1 (Mason). Cal Poly 3 (Gilbert, Elegado, Evans). Turnovers — Hawaii 14 (King 3, Karaitiana 3, Mason 2, Segovia 3, Harris, Sampton, TEAM). Cal Poly 7 (Koehler 2, Garza, Elegado, Sanchez, Evans, TEAM). Assists — Hawaii 9 (Sampton 2, Karaitiana 2, King 2, Morris, Wimbley, Harris). Cal Poly 15 (Elegado 8, Leaupepe, D. 2, Balbierz 2, Garza, Gilbert, Ale). Blocked shots — Hawaii 4 (Huff 3, Karaitiana). Cal Poly 3 (Garza, Elegado, Leaupepe, D.). Technical fouls — Hawaii none. Cal Poly none. Officials — Skelly Wingard, Jen Zylstra, David Arden. A — 1,633.
