Led by a bounce-back performance from a senior, the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season with a 74-60 win over CSU Bakersfield on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After being shut out in a loss to Washington State on Sunday, Ashleigh Karaitiana paced the Rainbow Wahine with 19 points and UH (4-1) held off CSUB’s comeback to open the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Shootout with a victory before a crowd of 902.
The Wahine saw a 16-point lead cut to four early in the fourth quarter before responding with a 15-3 run to fend off the Roadrunners (1-3).
Although UH managed to pull out a win before facing two nationally ranked opponents, coach Laura Beeman was more concerned with the issues that arose in the victory.
“It’s the way that we won,” Beeman said. “We did not win because we did things the right way.
“It becomes very, very difficult tomorrow and Sunday and beyond that the following tournament and beyond that conference. Things have got to change in order for us to win the right way and lose the right way.”
The tournament schedule leaves little time for dwelling on past performance as the Wahine will face No. 16 Arizona State today at 4 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. They’ll close the weekend against No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday.
“There’s less turnaround time, but that’s just something we as players and athletes need to step up,” Karaitiana said, “Be able to click and turn the switch on and prepare for any game. We can’t worry about this game. We have things we have to work on from it, but our only focus is ASU.”
After going 0-for-6 against Washington State, Karaitiana connected on eight of 16 attempts against CSUB, grabbed six rebounds and had two assists.
“I felt Ashleigh was more patient offensively than she’s been in a long time,” Beeman said. “She let the game come to her. She wasn’t worried about shooting 3s. She was trying to get her feet underneath her and get to the basket a little bit. … She worked incredibly hard on rebounding. I thought she had a really nice night.”
Karaitiana entered the game shooting 29 percent from the field while averaging 5.5 points and got back on track with six points midway through the first quarter and went into halftime with 12.
“That definitely got me going, and I give credit to (center) Connie (Morris), who gave a few assists under the basket,” Karaitiana said. “That was definitely the starting spot for me and that gave me more energy.”
Sophomore forward Megan Huff finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench and guard Briana Harris added 12 points, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Center Kalei Adolpho made all four of her field-goal attempts to finish with nine points.
The Wahine were regular visitors to the free-throw line, and went 27-for-40. But getting the ball into the post was problematic at times, and several of UH’s 18 turnovers came on entry passes.
UH built a 46-31 advantage on the boards and held CSUB’s Batabe Zempare, who had 24 points and 22 rebounds in a win over San Jose State, to eight points on 2-for-12 shooting and six rebounds on Friday.
“Tried to just make her shoot as many difficult shots as possible, keep her away from the basket if possible and then really limit her second-chance points, which I thought our posts did a really good job of,” Beeman said.
CSUB’s Erika Williams led the Roadrunners with a game-high 20 points.
No. 2 South Carolina 60, No. 16 Arizona State 58
A’ja Wilson made two free throws with 0.6 seconds left and the Gamecocks (5-0) held off the Sun Devils (1-2) in the tournament’s opening game.
Arizona State had possession with 20.3 seconds left but missed a 3-point attempt. South Carolina grabbed the rebound with 7.2 seconds remaining. After a jump ball and another South Carolina timeout, the Gamecocks worked the ball inside and missed on two shots before the officials called a foul as the buzzer sounded.
After a review, 0.6 seconds were put back on the clock, Wilson drained both free throws and ASU couldn’t get a desperation shot off.
Wilson and USC guard Bianca Cuevas scored a game-high 18 points and the Gamecocks prevailed despite 1-for-11 shooting from 3-point range. Katie Hempen hit four 3-pointers and led ASU with 12 points.
