A younger Destiny King might not have given herself a chance at redemption.

With less than a minute left in a tied game last Saturday at UC Santa Barbara, King had the ball poked away near midcourt, resulting in a breakaway layup for the host Gauchos.

UH called a timeout and King’s reaction on the sideline and during the ensuing play illustrated the Rainbow Wahine senior’s growth over her four-year run.

“She walked into the huddle … and she was like, ‘argh,’ and locked in and that was the end of it,” UH coach Laura Beeman said “(In the past) I would have lost Destiny and I didn’t.”

Beeman drew up a play for a refocused King to get to the basket for a tying score and she got around a screen just as designed. But she drew contact on her drive and bobbled the ball. Rather than force a tough shot, she regained control and fired a pass to fellow senior Ashleigh Karaitiana for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in a 63-62 win.

“It said a lot for Ashleigh to continue to play and it said lot for Destiny to continue to play,” Beeman said. “Because a lot of times this year we died on plays and we didn’t die on that one.”

King’s fifth assist of that game and 55th of the season extended UH’s four-game winning streak and her production in the fourth quarter has been a regular feature of the Rainbow Wahine run entering a Big West showdown with Long Beach State today at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine (14-9, 7-3 Big West) and 49ers (17-5, 6-2) meet at 5:30 p.m. in a duel for second place in the conference standings.

King enters the game leading the Wahine with 10.4 points per game this season and 30 away from 1,000 for her career. She also ranks second with 5.8 rebounds per game and leads the team with 26 steals.

She sparked the Wahine with nine points in the final period of a 62-53 win over against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 28 to begin the streak. She accounted for eight of UH’s 18 points in the fourth quarter at Cal Poly a week ago and scored seven of her team-high 17 points to close against UCSB.

While King has had at least a share of the team scoring lead in three of the past four games, UH’s streak is rooted in “everybody having faith in each other and trusting each other,” she said.

Her knack for finishing at the basket is in part a product of growing up among eight brothers in Long Beach, Calif. One of her older brothers, Keala, spent a season at Long Beach State and continues to pursue professional basketball.

King said playing with and against her brothers on the court behind their home provided several enduring lessons.

“Oh, aggression,” she said to start the list. “Taking contact, learning to post, helping me with my moves. I think that was one of the biggest things, in learning how to finish in the post.”

King went on the attack repeatedly in UH’s win streak and Beeman noted her “lack of fear of ‘what if I make a mistake.’ ”

“That was out the window with her. It was, ‘OK if I make a mistake, I make a mistake, but I’m going to go down swinging.’ … This team isn’t afraid to fail any more and that’s probably the biggest shift.”

King’s versatility and ability to bring the ball upcourt or finish inside has been among her distinguishing traits since joining the program as one of Beeman’s first recruits at UH. But “her decision making (as a freshman) wasn’t great and she has evolved as a young woman on and off the court,” Beeman said. “Her decision-making off the court, I’m more proud of than what she’s done on the court.”

King is on track to graduate in May with a degree in Family Resources and hopes to pursue professional basketball after finishing school.

Before walking the line in May, there’s the matter of closing out her senior season, starting with today’s matchup with LBSU. Not that the big-game label requires a shift in mind-set.

“I just take every game as big,” King said. “There’s not a game that’s not going to be big throughout this whole season.”