Hanging 10 came with a price Thursday night.
Hawaii ran its winning streak to 10 when pulling away from UC Irvine 75-37 in a Big West women’s basketball game in front of 987 at the Stan Sheriff Center. But it was a victory dampened by the injuries to senior guard Morgan Mason and junior guard Marissa Wimbley.
Still, even with their roster down by two, the Rainbow Wahine (18-7, 10-2) were just too much for the Anteaters (5-21, 2-9).
Freshman center Megan Huff scored nine of her game-high 12 points in the second half and senior guards Shawna-Lei Kuehu and Ashleigh Karaitiana were their steady selves with 11 each as Hawaii defeated UCI for the 14th time in 15 contests in Honolulu.
The win kept Hawaii 11⁄2 games ahead of UC Davis, Saturday’s opponent. The Aggies (13-10, 8-3) hit a Big West-record 17 3-pointers in shooting past injury-hampered Long Beach State 83-66 earlier Thursday.
"That game has huge implications," Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman said of Saturday’s 5 p.m. game with Davis. "Davis is coming in off a big win and on a (five-game) winning streak. They know they have to beat us to have a shot at being No. 1.
"But our team will be hungry, too. And we’ll be ready."
What was a close game at halftime — Hawaii led 30-23 after a ragged 20 minutes — turned into an AYSO night. All 13 Rainbow Wahine saw the court, with 11 playing at least 12 minutes.
One other, freshman forward Breana Jones, only needed the final 5 minutes to score a career-high eight points, including two 3-pointers. Her first trey capped a 33-2 run over a 15-minute span that turned a 35-27 lead into a 68-29 rout.
"I think that showed what we are capable of defensively, generating points off defense," Beeman added. "It took a little while for us to get our focus. We started 1-for-11 and most of those were in the paint."
Hawaii, ranked 25th nationally in rebound margin at plus-10.5, finished with a 59-25 edge against UCI, 24-7 on the offensive boards. Kuehu led the way with eight, adding her 30th blocked shot of the season when capping Anteater guard Irene Chavez early in the second half.
"There was definitely a lid on the basket early," Karaitiana said. "But Shawna told us to get some layups, see the ball go through the net."
Hawaii was also able to get UCI sophomore forward Mokun Fajemisin into foul trouble and took advantage of the reigning conference player of the week’s absence in the second half. The 6-foot-3 Huff particularly benefited when Fajemisin left with her fourth with 14 minutes to go and then had to be careful when returning 2 minutes later. Huff scored eight straight and Fajemisin fouled out preventing Huff from another score.
Fajemsin finished with a team-high 11 points, nine coming in the first half.
The Rainbow Wahine also got 21 minutes from freshman guard Sarah Toeaina, who had missed the first nine Big West games with injuries. She added eight points and five boards.
Hawaii padded its rebounding stats in a most unwelcome way in the first half, courtesy of missed shots translating into offensive boards.The Rainbow Wahine had 30 rebounds by intermission, half of those on offense when going 10-for-33 from the floor.
A microcosm of Hawaii’s effort could be found in junior center Connie Morris’ numbers. She had as many rebounds (five) as missed shots (0-for-5) until late, with her first basket helping the Rainbow Wahine end the half on a 6-2 run for a 30-23 lead.
Mason severely twisted her right ankle when coming down with a rebound and landing on the foot of a UCI player with 3:10 before halftime. Beeman said she expects Mason to be out at least until the March 5 game at UC Santa Barbara but would know more Friday after an examination.
Wimbley, who replaced Mason in the lineup, took an inadvertent elbow to the head with 15:11 left in the game. She remained out as a precautionary measure but is expected to be available for Saturday’s game with UC Davis.
