Led by Sarah Toeaina’s career night, the University of Hawaii treated Briana Harris to a rousing senior sendoff.
Toeaina scored a career-high 25 points and the Rainbow Wahine basketball team closed the regular season by knocking off Long Beach State 66-63 Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Toeaina went 10-for-13 from the field and 5-for-6 at the free-throw line and UH (11-17, 7-9 Big West) won on senior night for the ninth straight year.
“It means so much. I told Bri before the game started, ‘This is for you,’ ” Toeaina said.
Harris, the lone Rainbow Wahine senior, hit two 3-pointers — giving her 100 for her career — and finished with eight points in her final game at the Sheriff Center.
“Win or lose, as long as we worked hard, as long as we gave it our all, that’s the best thing,” Harris said through lei piled on her shoulders. “This team is amazing on and off the court and I’m going to miss them the most.”
Freshman forward Makenna Woodfolk contributed 10 points and seven rebounds and sophomore guard Olivia Crawford added nine points.
UH built a 10-point lead in the third quarter before Long Beach State rallied to tie the game early in the fourth. But Harris gave UH the lead back with her second 3-pointer of the night with 8:47 left and the Wahine answered every 49ers surge down the stretch.
“We had not been able to do that all year long,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “We’d been able to hit someone, they hit us back and then all of a sudden we fold. Tonight we didn’t do that and that shows tremendous growth for this team.”
The Rainbow Wahine finished sixth in the Big West regular-season standings and will face seventh-seeded Cal Poly in the first round of the conference tournament Tuesday at LBSU’s Walter Pyramid. UH and Cal Poly meet in the second game of the opening-round doubleheader scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Hawaii time.
Long Beach State (21-10, 12-4) was already locked into the second seed before tip-off and will have a double-bye into Friday’s semifinals. The 49ers’ hopes of claiming the top seed ended when UC Davis clinched the regular-season title with a win over Cal State Northridge.
Raven Benton led LBSU with 19 points. Guard Martina McCowan added 13 and Anna Kim finished with 11.
Harris, who provided a spark off the bench for most of her UH career, made her third start of her senior season and drained her first 3-point attempt of the night and the Wahine broke out to a 16-7 lead after one quarter and went into halftime with a 32-27 edge.
The lead grew to 10 in the third when Crawford came up with a steal and fed Lahni Salanoa for a fast-break layup.
The 49ers closed within three when McCowan hit her second 3-pointer of the quarter then scored in transition, cutting UH’s lead to 47-44.
McCowan was called for a technical foul after the play, drawing a heated protest from LBSU coach Jody Wynn. Toeaina hit one of two free throws, then drained two more in UH’s ensuing possession and the Wahine took a 50-45 lead into the final period.
LBSU tied the game early in the fourth quarter on Kim’s 3-pointer, but UH reclaimed the lead when Harris answered from behind the arc.
“I felt very confident in my shot,” Harris said. “Coach Beeman says, ‘If you’re open just shoot it, shooters be ready,’ and that’s what I was.”
After Crawford hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Toeaina to give UH a 65-57 lead with 2:51 left, Jessica Gertz answered with a 3 and LBSU closed to 65-62 on two Kim free throws with 1:55 left.
UH maintained a three-point lead and Harris was fouled with 15.1 seconds left, but missed both free throws. After a timeout, Benton’s 3-point attempt was wide and Harris ended the game with the ball in her hands as time expired.
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