It was a paint-by-numbers night for the Hawaii women’s basketball team, which came up on the short end of points in the paint in Friday’s season opener at Portland. The Rainbow Wahine were outscored 34-4 on shots inside the key, falling to the Pilots 76-47 at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.
Sophomore guard Julissa Tago had a career night with 28 points but got little help for Hawaii (0-1), which finishes its two-game road trip at Seattle University on Sunday. Senior guard Sarah Toeaina added seven points — all in the second half — and added a team-high six rebounds for the Wahine, who lost the rebound battle 41-26, including 27-17 on the defensive boards.
“We’re a young team and we played very choppy tonight, struggled with our tempo on offense,” Wahine coach Laura Beeman said in a telephone call. “We’ll get to work (Saturday) and the good thing is we know the problems we have are fixable.
“We came out incredibly cold (3-for-15 in the first quarter) and they came out hot (8-for-14). Part of it was their defense, but part of it was we could not hit the open shot. It was somewhat of a physical game and we have to learn to play more physical.”
Beeman pointed to the disparities in second-chance points (16-6 edge by Portland) and bench points (48-9 Portland advantage) as keys to the loss. The Pilots also took advantage of their trips to the foul line, hitting 13 of 15 to the Wahine’s seven of 12.
Portland (1-0) had six players in double-figure scoring, led by junior forward Julie Spencer’s 15. Four of the Pilots came off the bench to notch double digits, including freshman guard Maddie Muhlheim, who finished with 11. Her two 3-pointers helped the hosts to a 43-23 halftime lead.
Tago surpassed her career high in the first half, scoring 18 of Hawaii’s 23 points as the Wahine trailed by 20 at intermission. Although the rebound totals were close in the first half — Portland held a 16-14 edge — 13 of the Pilots’ boards were on the defensive end, establishing a trend for the rest of the night: limiting Hawaii’s second-chance attempts.
Portland also got plenty of help off the bench, with 23 of its first-half points coming from non-starters, including 9 from Muhlheim. The Pilots were money inside the paint early, outscoring the Wahine 14-0.
The only time Hawaii scored consecutive baskets in the first half was when Tago hit back-to-back 3-pointers within a 41-second span to pull the Wahine to 37-23 with 1:19 left in the second quarter.
Toeaina, who averaged 13.5 points last season, was scoreless until late in the third. She scored back-to-back layups to bring Hawaii within 58-36 with 25 seconds to go in the third.
That was the closest the Wahine would come the rest of the way, with the Pilots’ largest lead (32) coming with 69 seconds to go. Junior forward Leah Salanoa answered with her second 3-pointer to cap the scoring for Hawaii.