Wahine will have hands full against UC Davis

Some rare time off in the midst of conference play gave the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team some valuable perspective: One good game doesn’t mean the growing pains are over.

Because of two consecutive bye dates, the seventh-place Rainbow Wahine haven’t played since Feb. 8, a 59-55 win — coach Laura Beeman’s 100th career — over Cal State Fullerton at the Stan Sheriff Center.

But today UH (10-14, 3-8 BWC) contends with the Big West’s top team — UC Davis (21-4, 11-1), featuring player of the year candidate Morgan Bertsch. The Aggies beat the Wahine by 24 at Davis’ Pavilion last month, their most lopsided conference defeat since rejoining the Big West in women’s hoops in 2012.

“Our hands are full,” Beeman said. “But if we continue to learn, and continue to work on ourselves, whether or not we beat them Saturday night, that will give us success down the road, and that’s what we want. So it’s really been about us right now, nobody else.”

Akin to Cal State Northridge’s Channon Fluker, the 6-foot-4 Bertsch is capable of making it all about her.

Bertsch, a hyper-efficient post player averaging 19.6 points per game, shoots 55.4 percent from the field and 82.9 percent from the line.

“I love the challenge,” said UH forward Kenna Woodfolk, who draws the primary defensive assignment on the Big West’s second-leading scorer. “Bertsch is a great, great player — one of the best I’ve ever played. And so, just staying solid, move my feet, staying out of foul trouble. But I’m up for the challenge. I’m always up for the challenge. I’m ready. We’ve been working, doing post work on it. I feel confident about it.”

Bertsch, a junior, is third in UCD all-time scoring and on pace to obliterate the school record of 1,711 next season. She has not been held to single digits in 2017-18.

On Jan. 6 against UH, she scored 26 on 11-for-17 shooting.

“She is technically sound. She has incredible footwork for a big, and she works incredibly hard,” Beeman said. “And you don’t get that trifecta with post players often. Usually you’re missing one piece. She has it all. Because of her work ethic, she’s been able to improve her outside game as well, if you play off of her to stop the drive.

“As an opponent, I hate to see it. But as a coach, you really respect someone who puts that kind of work in.”

Davis, ranked No. 9 in CollegeInsider.com’s mid-major top 25 poll, beat its last two opponents, CSUN and Long Beach State, by 26 and 30 points. Its only league loss was at CSUN by four on Feb. 3.

For UH, senior guard Sarah Toeaina (15.7 ppg) has two straight games of 20-plus points, and eight straight in double figures, moving her into 15th all-time in scoring. She needs 45 more points to reach Ayesha Brooks at No. 14; however, Toeaina’s Big West season low of nine came at Davis.

UH point guard Tia Kanoa has 121 assists, good for a 5.0 average. The Arizona State transfer needs only nine more dimes to crack the program’s single-season top 10, and her average is tied for second for a season with Melanie Azama from the 1992-93 campaign.