So far in the Big West season, the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team has thrived on Thursdays only to stumble on Saturdays.

Through the first three weeks of league play, the Rainbow Wahine have won their Thursday games by an average of 19 points. They’ve then dropped tight Saturday battles by a total of eight.

The early pattern has the Wahine alone in sixth place in the conference entering a two-game homestand, and focused on the next step while keeping sight of their long-range goal.

“This week is just another week for us to not to be concerned about standings but to be concerned about getting better so that we’re where we need to be come the conference tournament,” UH coach Laura Beeman said.

After splitting a road trip last week, the Rainbow Wahine (10-9, 3-3 Big West) return to the Stan Sheriff Center for a Thursday matchup with Cal State Fullerton (2-17, 0-5) on Military Appreciation Night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

UH closes the homestand on Saturday with its second meeting with UC Irvine (4-16, 1-5) in nine days to lead off a doubleheader at the Sheriff Center. The Wahine play at 5:30 p.m., with the Rainbow Warriors to follow against Long Beach State at approximately 8.

As they approach the mid-point of the Big West schedule, the Wahine continue to search for consistency in putting together complete performances. Beeman said the early splits are “a big-time analogy for where we are as a team putting two parts of our game together.”

“Win on Thursday, lose on Saturday. Have a great offensive game, bad defensive game. Great defensive game, bad offensive game. … We haven’t been able to put the pieces together,” she said

Although both of UH’s opponents this week occupy the bottom two spots in the standings, the Wahine are all too aware of the any-given-night nature of conference play.

Last Saturday, the Wahine saw a 14-point third-quarter lead fade into a 63-60 loss at CSUN nine days after a convincing home win over the Matadors.

“Disappointment, sure, but you move on,” Beeman said. “You get up off the ground and you say this is what our next fight is going to be and we’re going to be ready when we need to be ready.”

UH senior Destiny King continues to pace the Wahine at 10 points per game, with sophomore forward Megan Huff providing 8.9 points and 6.1 rebounds off the bench.

Up next is a Cal State Fullerton team led by freshman guard/forward Michelle Berry, who ranks third in the Big West in scoring with 14.1 points per game and second in rebounding at 8.9 per contest. The Titans enter the week last in the league in scoring at 56.5 points per game while surrendering 68.4.

UH closes the week with a rematch with UC Irvine, which struggled to make up ground after the Wahine broke away in the first quarter last week at the Bren Events Center.

“We obviously have seen them recently, but that didn’t matter with Northridge,” Beeman said. “So we can’t take our focus off of what we’re supposed to do.”