Wahine rout Aggies, earn trip to NCAAs

ANAHEIM, CALIF. >> The process was pain. The process was patience. And in the end, it meant everything.

The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine channeled every past setback to their NCAA tournament dreams for a 78-59 rout of UC Davis in the Big West tournament championship game on Saturday, producing the program’s first trip to the Big Dance since 1998.

The game started with the UH band singing “Hawaii Pono‘i” a cappella before the game. It ended with “chee-hoo”s ringing out inside the Honda Center.

“Hawaii, this one’s for you guys,” coach Laura Beeman said, a cut-down net draped like a lei around her shoulders. Players donned white championship shirts and black title hats.

Particularly fresh on UH’s collective mind was its seven-point loss to Cal State Northridge in last year’s title game, when the Wahine were the top seed. It sent them into the consolation WNIT for the third straight year under Beeman, who won championships with regularity in her many years at Mount San Antonio College.

“You dream about cutting nets,” she said. “The first time you get to do it, whether it’s as a player or a coach, you always have that hunger to do it again.”

Beeman became the program’s first coach besides Vince Goo to take a team to the NCAAs. She said the team will travel home and watch Monday’s tournament selection show from the islands.

Behind another stellar effort on the interior, plus some timely shooting, the Wahine (21-10) demolished a league foe on a second straight day. Fifth-year senior Ashleigh Karaitiana shot 5-for-9 on 3s and scored 17 points en route to tournament MVP honors, while senior Destiny King joined her on the all-tournament team after posting eight points and seven assists.

“I love every moment of it,” King said. “The loss from last year picked us up, made us mature. It made us have a chip on our shoulder. It made us look at things differently when things were down. So every part of this process, it’s amazing because of this feeling right now.”

Guard Briana Harris added 13 points and Megan Huff 10 in the victory. Center Kalei Adolpho had nine points and nine rebounds, setting a physical tone early inside that Huff (two blocks) maintained coming off the bench.

Davis’ post players Morgan Bertsch and Alyson Doherty combined for 27 points, but they were hard-earned and the Aggies shot 37.3 percent to UH’s even 50.

It was UH’s 11th win in 12 games after a 3-3 start to conference play.

“There were some really key moments with this group that brought us together,” Beeman said. “We had some pretty hefty team meetings. We had some 1-on-1 conversations. It really starts off with your seniors.”

Second-seeded UH was determined to push the pace with its superior depth, especially considering Davis (19-13) had to play an extra game in the tournament as the No. 4 seed.

All 11 players who saw action scored for UH.

Davis came back from down double figures to beat top-seeded UC Riverside on Friday, but had no answer once the Wahine opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run. UH shot 11-for-14 in the period and led by 15 at halftime.

UH came out determined to start strong in the third quarter, often its weakest frame of the season. Players were all smiles in warm-ups coming out of the locker room.

Karaitiana hit consecutive 3s to blow it open, and UH extended it to as many as 22 near the end of the third period on a trey by point guard Olivia Crawford. It didn’t even matter that the Wahine got to the line for just seven attempts, compared to 24 for Davis.

Beeman inserted her reserves for much of the fourth quarter, the game well in hand. UH won the boards 47-29, similar domination to Friday’s 76-60 victory over Long Beach State in the semifinals.

Rarely have things come that easy for this group.

“Once this group all bought in, we sat as a coaching staff and said we could have something really, really special,” Beeman said. “I think all of us walking in yesterday and today felt like we could have two games that ended up just like they did … with pretty substantial leads. When we’re on the same page and we do Hawaii basketball, we’re very difficult to beat.”

UH’s NCAA appearance will be the sixth in program history. Its streak of four straight years making a postseason tournament matches the program’s longest run.

For Karaitiana, the moment was particularly special. She celebrated senior night in March 2015 and hadn’t expected to be granted another year of eligibility.

The incremental improvements — and yes, even the setbacks — made it all worth it.

“This is what I came back for, this is why I made the decision to come back and it’s the same reason Coach B asked me to come back,” Karaitiana said. “It was all part of the process, it wasn’t even just the process of this year. It’s been the past four years, of getting better every year, making a step forward in every tournament we’ve gone in. I love the outcome, I’m really happy and I’m proud of my teammates.”

Hawaii 78, UC Davis 59

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.

3-point goals — UC Davis 2-16 (Ko. Eaton 1-3, Nagel 1-5, McGuire 0-1, Ka. Eaton 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Nafekh 0-2, Gianotti 0-2). Hawaii 6-16 (Karaitiana 5-9, Crawford 1-3, King 0-1, Harris 0-3). Steals — UC Davis 3 (Marfone, Doherty, Nagel). Hawaii 3 (Crawford, Karaitiana, King). Blocked shots — UC Davis 3 (Bertsch 3). Hawaii 3 (Huff 2, Adolpho). Turnovers — UC Davis 8 (Doherty 3, Bertsch 2, Marfone 2, Ka. Eaton). Hawaii 13 (Harris 4, King 4, Crawford 3, Karaitiana 2). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Chuck Gonzalez, Mike Price, Julie Arommenhoek. A–1,523.