Hawaii goes cold against UC Riverside

Hawaii’s coldest shooting performance of the Big West women’s basketball season contributed to a 63-45 loss to UC Riverside on Thursday at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.

UC Riverside senior Rejane Verin played through foul trouble to post 15 points and 14 boards and freshman forward Skyler Lewis set season highs with 15 points and 12 rebounds and blocked four shots in the Highlanders’ third straight win in the series with UH.

UH (8-12, 4-4 Big West) shot 24.2 percent (16-for-66) as a team, going 1-for-13 from 3-point range. UCR (11-10, 5-3) never trailed while breaking a tie for fourth place in the conference.

“It was both offense and defense. Before the tip I didn’t feel like the girls were ready to play,” UH coach Laura Beeman said in a phone interview. “I have to figure out a way to get this young team to stay consistent, that’s on me. But they were not ready to play tonight.”

Senior guard Briana Harris led the Rainbow Wahine with 17 points off the bench on 6-for-12 shooting and junior guard Sarah Toeaina finished with 15 points. The rest of the roster combined for 13 points while going 4-for-36.

UH entered the week shooting 43 percent in Big West play, and close to 47 percent in a 4-1 stretch during which the Wahine averaged 70.8 points.

“We didn’t share the ball tonight,” Beeman said, noting UH’s three assists. “(UCR was) switching everything and instead of kicking the ball outside to open shooters, we continued to drive in and avoid contact. So it was a bad recipe on offense all night long.”

UCR went 8-for-15 from the field while taking a 22-16 lead after the first quarter. UH mustered just 15 points combined in the second and third periods while going 6-for-32 and UCR maintained a double-digit lead.

UCR controlled the interior with a 32-22 scoring advantage in the paint and outrebounded UH 53-39, with 18 second-chance points to UH’s seven.

While Verin entered the game as the Big West’s leading scorer at 16.8 points per game, Lewis had been averaging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds before going 7-for-12 from the field on Thursday.

“(Lewis is) talented,” Beeman said, “and if you’re going to let a girl that size with her athleticism get in the paint and do what she wants to do, she’s going to score points.”

UCR guard Lauren Holt hit two 3-pointers in a 12-point performance and guard Simone DeCoud added 10 points.

The Wahine conclude their road trip Saturday at Cal State Northridge (10-11, 3-4) and face UCR again on Wednesday at the Stan Sheriff Center. CSUN upset first-place Long Beach State 63-56 on Thursday.