The Hawaii women’s basketball team took matters into its own hands to promote its biggest regular-season game in years.
Saturday night’s battle at the Stan Sheriff Center will determine whether UH (14-10, 8-3 Big West) or UC Davis (14-11, 9-3) has sole command of first place hitting the stretch drive of the conference season.
Rainbow Wahine players have reached out on social media this week and prodded others to do the same on their behalf. For stand-alone home games in recent seasons, the Wahine have typically played before 500 or fewer people.
“We’re trying to get as many people as we can to come out. I think we deserve the support from our fans here,” senior guard Julissa Tago said. “In the past, there’s been a lot of support for other teams. So, we just want as big a crowd as we can get there, just to get that home-court advantage. Whether or not people show up, we’ll play the same game we do every time.”
Two former Hawaii football players now in the NFL, John Ursua and Jahlani Tavai — not to mention Kansas City’s Super Bowl-winning tight end, Travis Kelce, who has no overt island ties — have recorded video spots about the showdown.
“These guys, their tentacles go deep into social media and influencers and all this other stuff,” coach Laura Beeman said. “They’re not doing it to be cocky, they’re really having fun with it.” She said Kelce knows a friend of freshman point guard Nae Nae Calhoun.
The drama centers on whether UH is worthy to assume the mantle of front-runner; the Aggies are the three-time defending regular-season champ and reigning tournament winner.
Davis is coming off a 71-61 loss Thursday to Cal State Fullerton that snapped the Aggies’ 28-game Big West home winning streak.
UH lost at UCD’s Pavilion 62-49 on Jan. 11, the second game of conference play.
“We changed our offense a couple games after that, so I think we’re excited about that,” said Tago, who scored a season-high 25 in that game. “We weren’t the team that we are now.”
The Wahine are 8-1 since, have won six straight, and are well rested coming off a comeback win over Cal State Northridge on Feb. 13. A seventh consecutive victory would match their best streak since 2015-16 — the last year they won the conference tournament and made it to the NCAAs.
The Aggies no longer have last year’s Big West Player of the Year Morgan Bertsch, but they sport a contingent of competent shooters. UH and UCD are the two most effective 3-point-shooting teams in the BWC, with UH shooting 35.8% from deep and UCD 35.0%.
Junior forward Amy Atwell has converted 51.9% (27-for-52) of her 3-point attempts in nine conference games played, a league best. She’s at 46.8% for the full season, also tops in the Big West. Atwell (52 3s made) and Tago (51) are within range of breaking Megan Tinnin’s single-season school 3s record of 55 in 2008-09.
Both teams have done it on both ends. Davis and Hawaii are 1-2 in field-goal percentage defense in league games, at .345 and .373.
“I don’t know if there’s been this head-to-head battle (late in the regular season) which really gives you that playoff vibe, which is really cool, I think, for the girls,” Beeman said. “And being here, if we can draw a crowd, I think it’s going to be a really fun experience.”
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UH WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
At Stan Sheriff Center
>> Today, 7 p.m.
>> UC Davis (14-11, 9-3 Big West) at Hawaii (14-10, 8-3)
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: KHKA 1500-AM
