Based on a vote of media members, the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team will enter the season as the favorite to claim the Big West title.

As the Rainbow Wahine prepare to defend the Big West regular-season crown, UH coach Laura Beeman’s assessment will likely be shaped by their performance on defense in tonight’s exhibition game against UH Hilo.

UH topped the Big West preseason poll released on Tuesday and the Rainbow Wahine will face the Division II Vulcans at the Stan Sheriff Center in their lone exhibition game before the Nov. 13 season opener against Grand Canyon.

The Rainbow Wahine return three starters among 11 letter-winners from a team that went 23-9 last season and won the Big West regular-season title with a 14-2 mark. UH received 13 of 17 first-place votes and led the poll with 147 points.

While the Wahine will enter the season with the No. 1 next to their name in the preseason poll, “I think the girls understand that’s just a number in October — let’s have that number in April, March,” Beeman said. “But right now they understand we have a long ways to go.”

UH senior Ashleigh Karaitiana was named to the preseason all-conference team. She made the All-Big West second team last season when she averaged 10 points and five rebounds and led UH with 45 3-pointers made. She was part of UH’s senior class last year, but was granted another season of eligibility by the NCAA.

“She absolutely deserves it,” Beeman said. “She’s worked incredibly hard. For her to get the year back was exciting for all of us, but she deserves the recognition she got, for sure.”

Karaitiana had 12 points in three quarters Friday in UH’s Green vs. White scrimmage, while fellow senior Destiny King led all scorers with 17. But Beeman’s primary take-away from the team’s first SSC appearance centered on defense, or lack thereof.

“I hope to see us come out on the defensive end with a bigger sense of urgency, a lot more intensity, a lot more pride in what we do defensively,” Beeman said.

“If you ask anybody in our conference ‘What is Hawaii known for?’ It’s playing hard and it’s for our defense. Right now that’s not the case. We’re scoring a lot, we’re having fun running up and down the floor, but we’re not taking care of business on the defensive end, and that’s going to change.”

The Wahine will face a UH Hilo team that went 10-14 last season and returns just four players. Of those, only point guard Alexa Jacobs appeared in more than seven games. Jacobs averaged 6.3 points over 24 games and was second on the team with 62 assists.

“They’re coming in here to prove some things too and we are not overlooking them,” Beeman said. “We have a full scout on them, our practice plans are revolving around what they do and what they’ve done in the past. I have a lot of respect for (coach) Dave (Kaneshiro) and how he runs his program, so we’re not taking them lightly.”

Beeman said freshman forward Lahni Salanoa could see playing time tonight after leaving last week’s scrimmage with a deep cut on her left (non-shooting) hand. Sophomore forward Dalayna Sampton returned to practice this week after missing the scrimmage while taking care of a personal matter back home. She will likely sit out tonight’s game.