It’s pool day for the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team.

No, not what you might think.

Not a frolicking and relaxing day off — which would be well deserved after the Rainbow Wahine completed a sweep of their four-game homestand with Saturday’s 79-64 victory over Cal Poly.

The win was also the team’s seventh in a row and put UH in first place alone in the Big West, a game ahead of four teams, including the Mustangs.

The day of rest was actually Sunday, and now it’s back to work … getting ready for the stretch run.

Pool day, not pool party.

"That’s a real workout, cardio," coach Laura Beeman said of the Wahine hydro conditioning session. "It takes the pounding off the legs, but they’re not losing what we need to do for the legs and hearts."

UH then leaves Tuesday for games Thursday and Saturday at Riverside and Fullerton.

This is rare air for the Wahine in recent years, atop the standings. Beeman and her staff know this is a key point and have a strategy for avoiding altitude sickness. But, as it always is, the key is buy-in from the players.

"Teams are made or broken in February," Beeman said. "To keep getting better it has less to do with us as coaches and more with where the girls are in understanding that practices will change and become more methodical, maybe less fun than they were. We have to evaluate the areas where we can grow and come up with practice plans where that will happen."

Sounds boring, but there’s method to Beeman’s non-madness. That’s what we’ve liked about her from the start, right? From the time she was hired more than three years ago you could tell she means business, she always has a solid plan. Not that she’s ridiculously tough, or not fun. But as any player will tell you, winning is the most fun.

In 2012-13, her first season, she got a hodgepodge team to buy into defense and playing for each other. Now, after back-to-back 17-14 campaigns ending in first-round NIT losses, the 15-7 Wahine are positioned for a push to the next step.

Shawna Kuehu is pretty dependable, but won’t always make her first six shots, like she did Saturday on the way to 22 points. Beeman has identified offensive execution as one of those areas where the Wahine can grow.

"Particularly when we’re playing a team with a packed-in zone and when we’re not shooting well," she said. "Find shots that make sense. Then hit the shots that are the best in those situations."

Depth is impressive and will help as Hawaii tries to post its best record since the 23-8 of 2002.

Beeman praised guard Marissa Wimbley and forward Dalayna Sampton for stellar efforts in limited playing time Saturday.

"Only 10 minutes (12 for Wimbley, six for Sampton), but what they did in their minutes," the coach said. "They didn’t just maintain, they continued to give us an advantage."

The conference championship and NCAA tournament berth might or might not come this spring. But Laura Beeman has the Wahine positioned and headed in the right direction.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.