Having left the Mott Athletics Center in disappointment each of the last three years, Hawaii’s senior class made sure its fourth visit would be far more satisfying.
Rainbow Wahine forward Destiny King scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and guard Marissa Wimbley hit three 3-pointers in the second half to lead the UH women’s basketball team to a 64-58 win at Cal Poly on Thursday.
The Wahine entered the game 0-4 at Cal Poly all time with losses by five points or fewer in their last three visits to San Luis Obispo, Calif.
“Really happy for Destiny, Ashleigh (Karaitiana), Riss,” UH coach Laura Beeman said of the fourth-year seniors. “Those guys have been through the Cal Poly losses and to get this in their senior year I’m really proud of them, really happy for them.”
UH forward Megan Huff added six points with a game-high nine rebounds. She also had a career-high four assists and blocked four shots. Karaitiana finished with eight points and six rebounds and Briana Harris contributed nine points in the first half.
The Rainbow Wahine picked up their third straight win to improve to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in Big West play. UH’s win on Thursday and UC Davis’ loss at UC Riverside moved the Wahine into third place in the conference standings. They conclude their road trip at UC Santa Barbara (8-14, 5-3) on Saturday.
“We have a huge game on Saturday,” Beeman said. “Santa Barbara is playing incredibly well. They’re shooting the ball from the outside well. They do offensively what we struggle with, which is drive-and-kick and penetration. We’re going to have our work cut out for us and they’re going to pressure us big time on the defensive end.”
UH picked up a win on the front end of the trip led by King’s surge in the fourth quarter and the Wahine overcame a career-best 31 point performance by Cal Poly guard Dynn Leaupepe.
After Leaupepe gave Cal Poly a 47-46 lead with a jumper early in the fourth quarter, UH point guard Olivia Crawford hit a pull-up jumper then drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to push the Wahine ahead.
After a Wimbley 3-pointer gave UH a seven-point cushion, Leaupepe scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to 56-53 with 2:29 left. But King answered with a jumper and a drive off the wing to spark an 8-0 UH run.
“That’s what your seniors are supposed to do and I’m really proud of Destiny,” Beeman said.
“It was a combination of players, but Destiny definitely put the team on her back.”
Wimbley drained three of UH’s eight 3-pointers and tied her season high with 11 points.
“Riss has really embraced her role,” Beeman said. “She knows she needs to shoot and she needs to be shot-ready and when the ball comes to her she can’t hesitate.”
UH held Cal Poly scoreless for a span of 2:26 until Leaupepe scored five points in the final three seconds. But the outcome was well in hand for UH.
Cal Poly center Hannah Gilbert entered the game averaging 13.4 points and a league-high 9.5 rebounds per game. She picked up two fouls in the first quarter and was limited to two points and three rebounds and UH held Cal Poly (10-11, 3-5) to 37 percent shooting from the field.
BIG WEST WOMEN
| |
Conference |
|
|
|
Overall |
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| UC Riverside |
7 |
0 |
1.000 |
– |
14 |
7 |
| Long Beach St. |
6 |
2 |
.750 |
1 1/2 |
17 |
5 |
| Hawaii |
6 |
3 |
.667 |
2 |
13 |
9 |
| UC Davis |
5 |
3 |
.625 |
2 1/2 |
12 |
9 |
| UCSB |
5 |
3 |
.625 |
2 1/2 |
8 |
14 |
| Cal Poly |
3 |
5 |
.375 |
4 1/2 |
10 |
11 |
| CSUN |
3 |
5 |
.375 |
4 1/2 |
5 |
17 |
| UC Irvine |
1 |
7 |
.125 |
6 1/2 |
4 |
18 |
| CS Fullerton |
0 |
8 |
.000 |
7 1/2 |
2 |
20 |
Wednesday
UC Santa Barbara 79, CS Fullerton 49
Thursday
Hawaii 64, Cal Poly 58
UC Riverside 80, UC Davis 73
Long Beach St. 74, CSUN 71, OT
Saturday
Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara, Noon HST
UC Irvine at Cal Poly
CSUN at UC Riverside
UC Davis at CS Fullerton
HAWAII 64, CAL POLY 58
| RAINBOW WAHINE (13-9, 6-3 BWC) |
| |
MIN |
FG-A |
FT-A |
R |
A |
PF |
PTS |
| King |
29 |
5-10 |
2-4 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
12 |
| Huff |
28 |
2-6 |
2-2 |
9 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
| Toeaina |
13 |
1-3 |
2-2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
| Crawford |
30 |
2-7 |
0-2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
| Karaitiana |
33 |
4-10 |
0-0 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
| Wimbley |
22 |
3-8 |
2-4 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
11 |
| Harris |
17 |
3-4 |
1-2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
| Le. Salanoa |
6 |
2-5 |
1-1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
| La. Salanoa |
5 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Adolpho |
17 |
1-2 |
0-0 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
| TEAM |
|
|
|
3 |
| TOTALS |
200 |
23-55 |
10-17 |
40 |
10 |
18 |
64 |
| MUSTANGS (10-11, 3-5 BWC) |
| |
MIN |
FG-A |
FT-A |
R |
A |
PF |
PTS |
| L. Leaupepe |
13 |
1-3 |
1-2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| Gilbert |
20 |
1-5 |
0-0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| Lovely |
38 |
3-5 |
0-0 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
| Grupalo |
18 |
1-6 |
0-0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Balbierz |
31 |
3-8 |
3-3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
| Stahley |
22 |
1-5 |
0-0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
| D. Leaupepe |
30 |
13-29 |
4-4 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
31 |
| Nunnelley |
2 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Evans |
5 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Anderson |
4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Fausey |
17 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| TEAM |
|
|
|
4 |
|
| TOTALS |
200 |
23-62 |
8-9 |
34 |
9 |
20 |
58 |
Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime — Cal Poly 31, Hawaii 29
3-point goals — Hawaii 8-22 (Wimbley 3-8, Harris 2-3, Toeaina 1-1, Le. Salanoa 1-2, Crawford 1-4, Huff 0-1, Karaitiana 0-3). Cal Poly 4-11 (Balbierz 1-2, Lovely 1-2, Grupalo 1-3, D. Leaupepe 1-4). Steals — Hawaii 5 (Harris 2, Huff 2, Karaitiana). Cal Poly 7 (D. Leaupepe 2, L. Leaupepe 2, Balbierz, Grupalo, Stahley). Blocked shots — Hawaii 7 (Huff 4, Adolpho, Karaitiana, La. Salanoa). Cal Poly 4 (Balbierz, Gilbert, Grupalo, Lovely). Turnovers — Hawaii 17 (Adolpho 3, Huff 3, Karaitiana 3, Toeaina 3, Crawford, Harris, King, La. Salanoa, Le. Salanoa). Cal Poly 11 (Balbierz 3, D. Leaupepe 2, Lovely 2, Stahley 2, Anderson, L. Leaupepe). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Jack Jones, Margaret Tieman, Brian Woods. A—382.
