Julissa Tago reaches milestone in leading Wahine basketball team to win

Julissa Tago wasted little time in getting the 1,000-point career mark out of the way on senior night. Her final 3-point shot in front of a crowd at the Stan Sheriff Center? That was a little tougher.

Tago scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds in helping Hawaii snap a four-game losing streak, 75-58 over Cal Poly in the Rainbow Wahine home finale before 874 on Saturday night.

She became the 22nd player in program history to reach the scoring plateau and has at least one game to spare in her four-year career. Hawaii wrapped up the regular season at 15-14 (9-7 Big West) and will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s conference tournament at Long Beach State and the Honda Center.

>> Click here to see photos of Hawaii vs. Cal Poly on Saturday.

After watching fellow seniors Savannah Reier and Courtney Middap make a layup and free throw for their senior shots, Tago, of Medford, Ore., prepared to take a pass from her parents.

A few 3-point attempts went awry from the No. 3 long-range shooter in program history before she settled on a layup.

“The ball was a little slippery. I hit them all in the game, so I ran out of 3-point shots for the night,” Tago, who needed nine points for 1,000 at tipoff, said with a smile. “It’s all good. Just excited they were here (from Phoenix and Las Vegas) to share that with me.”

They also saw her score 11 in the first quarter — including a pair of triples — as UH jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back.

“It felt like we were back on track, back where we were four games before this,” Middap said.

Said coach Laura Beeman, “I think we came out very, very strong and that energy helped kind of catapult the girls to continue the momentum … the fun with each other, celebrating one another.”

Junior forward Amy Atwell supplied 14 points on 4-for-5 3-point shooting and freshman point guard Nae Nae Calhoun scored 13 with five assists as UH shot 50% from the floor, its best clip in nine games.

All three seniors started. Reier, a two-year energy player out of Shelton State Community College (Ala.), got the scoring started with a pair of free throws and finished with four points and four rebounds. Middap, a four-year utility guard out of Tasmania, Australia, added five points and a steal.

“These three have been truly unique and amazing in my life,” Beeman said.

UH will face a team to be determined at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid on Wednesday, with the hope of advancing to the semifinals at Honda Center on Friday.

“We all knew we needed to come out and get this win, not just for seeding, but just to get back on the winning path heading into the tournament,” Atwell said.

Two years ago, Cal Poly (9-18, 6-10) snapped UH’s nine-game winning streak on senior nights. But these Mustangs could not muster a similar effort.

Tago hit her first four shots, including a couple of triples, to reach the milestone midway through the first quarter. She had 11 in the period as UH led 21-9.

UH held steady in the second quarter for a 42-29 halftime lead. The margin was 22 after three quarters and the Mustangs got no closer than 14 in the fourth.

“We’ve been a good team all year,” Reier said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt in what we can do. So we’re feeling pretty confident.”

Forward Sierra Campisano led Cal Poly with 17 points.

Sarah Toeaina was the last Wahine player to reach 1,000 points, in 2017-18.