FULLERTON, CALIF. >> The Hawaii women’s basketball team drew the opponent it expected for the Big West tournament semifinals.
By virtue of their double bye as the No. 2 seed, coach Laura Beeman’s team had the luxury of watching the first- and second-round action intently from the stands at the Bren Events Center over the past two days.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Friday at Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
>> Who: No. 3-seeded Long Beach State (24-7) vs. No. 2 Hawaii (19-10), 12:30 p.m. HST
>> Video streaming: ESPN3
>> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
It was No. 3 Long Beach State that remained standing, outlasting No. 6 Cal Poly, 54-52, on a last-second shot by Raven Benton. It sets up what could be a favorable matchup for the Rainbow Wahine (19-10) in Anaheim’s Honda Center at 12:30 (HST) on Friday.
This season, UH swept LBSU (24-7), winning 67-55 at the Walter Pyramid and 60-42 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
“I think the size matchup, we have a lot more bigs and depth in that area,” UH senior Ashleigh Karaitiana said. “They have a couple solid bigs, if that. The only thing we necessarily need to worry about is the guard penetration and outside shooting.”
UH last met up with LBSU in tournament action in a second-round game at the 49ers’ Pyramid in 2014. UH was the higher seed and prevailed in hostile territory, 52-49.
The Wahine also took the home-and-home series in 2014-15. In total, they’ve won the past six meetings in the series.
“We definitely have the height advantage, the depth advantage,” Beeman said. “I think the inside-outside game we present is challenging for them. We have matchup problems with Destiny (King) and Ashleigh, they have a hard time handling. They put a guard on them, we post them up. They put a big on them, we draw them to the outside.”
UH focused on itself during practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, first at the Bren Center then at Hope International in Fullerton.
“It’s good for us, to get a feel for what exactly the Honda Center is going to give us,” guard Briana Harris said. “Being at different gyms, you shoot different places, you get used to that gym. Now we go to the Honda Center, and it’s, ‘oh, this is second nature.’ “
Now the Wahine will focus exclusively on the 49ers.
After starting conference play 3-3, UH won nine of the next 10. One more victory gives UH back-to-back 20-win seasons.
