Beeman looking for some toughness

Hawaii coach Laura Beeman is looking for an edge when the Rainbow Wahine basketball team takes on Hawaii Pacific University today.

In terms of scheme, sure. But perhaps more so in demeanor.

The Rainbow Wahine (2-6) have dropped their last four games, including lopsided losses to two top-10 teams (No. 6 Mississippi State and No. 9 UCLA) and another to an Oregon squad just outside the top 25.

So they return to the Stan Sheriff Center for the intra-island meeting with Division II HPU (4-2) aiming to end the skid and regain some attitude — or as Beeman put it, “a little bit of nasty.”

“Even though you know those are tough games to win you can still keep your nasty, you can still keep your swagger and I think we lost that at times,” Beeman said. “When we had it we were able to at least compete. When we didn’t have it we just looked bad all the way around. We need to bring that energy (today).”

Today’s 2 p.m. matinee in Manoa counts as a regular-season game for UH, but will be an exhibition for HPU, which has won four straight but is 0-7 against UH.

“I think they’re going to be hungry, which is obviously a concern for us,” HPU coach Reid Takatsuka said. “But I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

Limited to seven healthy players for last Sunday’s 72-49 loss at UCLA, the Wahine are expected to have 10 in the rotation today with the return of sophomore forward Lahni Salanoa and the addition of freshman guard Courtney Middap.

Salanoa missed the last four games with an ankle injury and Middap was sidelined by a knee injury since the second week of practice. Both are threats from 3-point range and Salanoa also adds to UH’s depth in the post.

“It stretches the floor more than people realize,” UH point guard Olivia Crawford said of Salanoa’s return, “and we’ll be a little more versatile on defense.”

A deeper bench will ease the load on starters such as Crawford (averaging 7.6 points in 32 minutes per game) and guard Sarah Toeaina (11.8 ppg in 31.3 minutes).

UH and HPU last met on New Year’s Eve of 2014 and the Wahine weathered the Sharks’ hot early shooting to pull out a 76-68 win.

So far this season, the Sharks rank seventh out of 301 Division II teams in 3-point shooting percentage (40.3) and are tied for 25th with 8.7 made 3s per game.

Senior guard VeAnne Navarro, who scored 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting against UH in 2014, leads the Sharks with 15 points per game off the bench and is 11-for-25 from 3-point range. Junior guard Breanna Mackenzie follows at 12.33 ppg and has a team-high 12 steals.

“From a basketball standpoint I think our main strength is just the fact that our team is very cohesive,” said Takatsuka, who passed the 100-win mark last week. “The girls share the ball really well and I think when they’re sharing it shots are available and they’ve been doing a good job of hitting them.”