Two road wins should help make Christmas even merrier for the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team.
Rainbow Wahine guard Briana Harris tied a career high with five 3-pointers and UH held off San Jose State 76-73 on Tuesday for its second win in a three-game holiday-season road trip.
Following the win at The Event Center in San Jose, Calif., the Wahine dispersed at the airport to spend Christmas with family and friends. They’ll reunite in Los Angeles on Dec. 27 and close the road trip three days later at CSU Bakersfield.
“It’s a very good feeling and very good energy right now for our team and it’s just really fun to watch these guys excited at the airport and watch these kids take off with their families,” UH coach Laura Beeman said in a phone interview before her flight back to Honolulu. “To do it after two wins, it’s really a nice feeling.”
Harris led the Wahine on Tuesday with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting and drained three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Center Kalei Adolpho finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, forward Megan Huff added 13 points and eight boards and UH improved to 6-5 overall and 4-0 on the mainland.
Ashleigh Karaitiana posted 11 points and four rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Sarah Toeaina had four of UH’s 16 assists and the Wahine committed a season-low 11 turnovers two days after giving the ball away 34 times in a 74-72 win at Sacramento State.
“To share the ball 16 times and only turn it over 11 was refreshing,” Beeman said. “We needed it tonight, not only for the win but just for the girls’ psyche, to understand we’re not a team that’s going to turn the ball over as much as we have been. We just have to play normal basketball.”
The Wahine handled full-court pressure from SJSU (2-9) to take a 34-30 lead into halftime. The Spartans rallied in the third quarter and Myzhanique Ladd hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the teams into the fourth tied 51-51.
On UH’s first possession of the period, Toeaina found Harris open in the corner for a 3-pointer and the Wahine held off SJSU the rest of the way.
“(The Spartans) are typically a very good third period team,” Beeman said. “So we knew they were coming. We just had to weather the storm. But for Bre to hit that 3 to start the fourth was really nice.”
San Jose State guard Dezz Ramos led all scorers with 26 points and six assists and Ladd finished with 14 points, going 5-for-5 from the field.
