Wahine hoops aim to keep their streaks going

Another year older, another year wiser.

The newly added maturity seems to be working for the Rainbow Wahine basketball team. With three players recently celebrating birthdays, Hawaii has been celebrating on the court by winning six straight and moving into a share of the Big West lead with Cal Poly and Long Beach State.

The Rainbow Wahine defeated the 49ers at the Stan Sheriff Center back on Jan. 29 to open a four-game homestand. Hawaii looks to end its stay in Manoa a perfect 4-0 when it hosts the Mustangs on Saturday.

Counting candles on this virtual cake? Make it 17 after Thursday’s 60-43 defeat of UC Santa Barbara: 11 for consecutive home conference victories dating back to last season and six for the current winning streak.

Adding the 18th is the collective wish for Hawaii. It could be a coming of age if the Wahine are able to knock off Cal Poly, the last Big West team to win in Honolulu.

The Mustangs rallied for a 78-74 overtime victory on Jan. 8, 2014, in the conference opener for both. The Wahine led by as many as 17 and were up 64-60 with 11 seconds to go but couldn’t hold on during a wild finish in regulation.

Jonae Ervin was fouled while finishing on a driving layup to pull the Mustangs to 64-62 with four seconds left. Erwin intentionally missed the free throw and Cal Poly was able to get two shots off, with the second — Taryn Garza’s banker — falling just before buzzer to force OT.

The Mustangs have won all three against the Wahine since then, including the Big West opener last month. Hawaii’s leading scorer Shawna-Lei Kuehu didn’t play in that 70-65 loss in the Mott Athletics Center on Jan. 8, sitting out with an injury.

The senior guard, whose birthday was Sunday, is more than ready for the rematch. Hawaii is 1-5 against Cal Poly during her career (1-8 all-time), the lone win coming at the Sheriff Center on Jan. 24, 2013.

"I want this one more than anything," said Kuehu, who came off the bench to score eight points in that 61-43 victory.

"They’ve definitely had our number the past couple of years," third-year Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman said. "We’re not the same team we were when we last saw them. We didn’t have Shawna, we didn’t have the chemistry that we have now. We couldn’t start some people because they were fouling too much. We’re starting to play good basketball.

"We started (conference play) with two losses on the road. When you think about it, if you got those two games back (winning both) maybe you don’t have the wake-up call that we got. We got mad, but it was a controlled anger. We said we’re not playing well, so let’s get ticked off and win some games.

"I don’t know where’d we be if we hadn’t lost those two, but I think we’re right where we’re supposed to be."

Which is tied for the Big West lead. That the Mustangs are there as well is a little bit of a surprise to Beeman.

"I thought we’d be late blooming as we got healthy and as we started working in Megan Huff," Beeman said of the second-semester addition of the 6-foot-3 freshman center who played volleyball in fall. "I didn’t think SLO (Cal Poly) would be this good after losing a lot from last year."

But the Mustangs, picked to finish third behind CSUN and Hawaii in the preseason coaches poll, obviously have plenty back. Senior guard Ariana Elegado holds five school records and is tops in the Big West in assists (42) and free-throw percentage (.944), fourth in scoring (14.5 ppg) and 3-pointers (14).

Senior forward Garza, the nemesis here a year ago, is one of the best rebounders in conference history. The Big West’s reigning Hustle Player of the Year is 36 away from 500 boards in her career and is averaging 7.2 rpg this season.

Another scoring threat is senior guard Kristen Ale, who has hit at least one 3-pointer in 16 of the team’s 20 games.

The Mustangs are coming off home wins over UC Davis and UC Irvine. Their losses have been at home to Long Beach State and at UC Riverside.

"We’re playing well, but there’s always something for us to work on," said senior guard Ashleigh Karaitiana, who had a game-high 17 points in that win over Cal Poly two years ago. "We haven’t reached our peak, but we’re definitely on the right track."