Hawaii shuffled the starting lineup and shook off a loss on Thursday to earn a split of its Big West women’s basketball road trip with a 76-67 win over Cal State Northridge on Saturday in Northridge, Calif.
Hawaii forward Amy Atwell and guard Daejah Phillips each scored 15 points and center Nnenna Orji added a career-high 13 to help the Rainbow Wahine (8-8 4-2 Big West) pick up their second road win of the season.
Coming off a cold shooting performance in a 65-51 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, the Wahine shot 48% from the field to overcome 24 turnovers. They set season highs with 29 made free throws on 36 attempts.
Phillips also set a career best with five of UH’s 15 steals and CSUN (6-11, 2-5) committed 25 turnovers in its fourth straight loss.
“We gotta figure out our turnover situation, but to be able to respond from a game like Thursday and get a win today on the road is always a good thing,” UH coach Laura Beeman said in a phone interview.
Atwell hit two 3-pointers to increase her career total to 163 and move within four of the program record and went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Atwell, the Big West’s leading scorer, limped off the court with 6:37 left in the third quarter and returned with 8:02 left in the fourth. In the meantime, the Wahine were able to maintain the lead and held a 61-52 cushion when Atwell returned.
“It is good to see we could keep our composure and actually grow the lead,” Beeman said.
With the Wahine coming off a 32% shooting performance at UCSB, the UH coaching staff gave freshman forward Jacque David her first career start and inserted guard Olivia Davies back into the starting five.
David accounted for UH’s first two baskets of the game and finished with nine points on 4-for-7 shooting and also had two assists.
“I was curious to see what that big lineup would look like and I thought the combination between Jacque and Nnenna was very good,” Beeman said. “Jacque saw the floor really well and was able to deliver the ball. People have to guard Jacque differently because she can put the ball on the floor and can shoot it.”
One of David’s assists was a high-post entry to Orji, who went 3-for-3 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.
“Both Daejah and Nnenna are young, and the more they get experience and the more they continue to work then they’ll be able to reap the benefits,” Beeman said. “With Nnenna continuing to post up, really focusing on her finishing and making her free throws is definitely an added bonus for us.”
The Wahine got 11 players into the game and nine scored at least three points and seven had at least one assist.
Tess Amundsen hit four 3-pointers and led CSUN with 20 points.
The Matadors led 27-23 in the second quarter, but the Wahine closed the half on a 13-2 run and held CSUN without a field goal over the final 4:03.
UH took a 56-50 lead into the fourth quarter, and had just one field goal in the final eight minutes. But the Wahine were able to extend the margin from the free-throw line and opened up a 72-62 lead when Phillips’ corner 3-pointer bounced high off the rim and rattled through with 1:23 left.
The Wahine return home to face UC Davis on Thursday and UC Riverside on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.