Rainbow Wahine’s scorching second-quarter shooting is enough to put them in Big West tourney final

HENDERSON, Nev. >> In Las Vegas’ neighboring city, the most popular long shot belonged to Hawaii’s Amy Atwell.

The Big West Player of the Year swished six 3s, including four of four in the second quarter, to carry the Rainbow Wahine women’s basketball team past UC Riverside 69-55 and into tonight’s title game of the Big West Championships. Atwell finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

The Wahine will face UC Irvine, which beat UC Davis 84-75 in the other semifinal. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. in Dollar Loan Center.

Atwell had three points on 1-for-5 shooting in the opening quarter. But then she found her groove. She hit a mid-range jumper to widen the Wahine’s lead to 23-10 with 7:10 remaining in the first half. Atwell then worked the angles, hitting treys from the right corner, left wing, right wing and, finally, the left side.

“Not a lot is going through my mind when I am hitting like that,” Atwell said. “That’s when I’m playing the best — when I’m not overthinking.”

In the second quarter, Atwell already had a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) and a listing in the Wahine’s record book. Atwell surpassed Julissa Tago for most 3-point shots made in a single season. Hawaii led 43-21 at half.

“We didn’t execute the game plan of being tough,” UCR guard Jada Holland said of the Highlanders’ first-half defense. “We had to be tough to guard Amy, guard their actions.”

The Highlanders cobbled a strong third quarter, as always, to pull within 50-39.

“We knew they were going to have a punch,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “We’ve been in games before where we’ve had big leads. In tournament time, people aren’t going to roll over and die.”

Beeman said Holland was able to drive for layups or draw fouls. Holland scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half. Olivia West drew eight fouls, leading to 8-for-8 free-throw shooting. But that was not enough to counter the Wahine’s rebounding advantage (44-27, including 15-8 on the offensive glass), 22 bench points and Atwell’s active play in the low post.

Atwell was limited to four points on 1-for-7 shooting in Wednesday’s game against UC Santa Barbara. “I came into the game with the mindset I don’t have too many back-to-back games shooting that poorly. I focused on shooting mechanics a lot in practice (on Thursday), and just getting my legs underneath me. I had to come out there and play my game, and let the game come to me.”

Beeman said: “I slept really good last night knowing that she was going to show up today and, if she wasn’t scoring, she’d rebound, she would get assists, she would set screens. … When Amy starts hitting, it makes it really difficult for teams because they have to figure out how to rotate differently.”

The Highlanders already were concerned about matchup problems. They had been without two ailing forwards. Ahead of the tournament, their top scorer, Keilanei Cooper, suffered an ankle injury. Cooper struggled to find her aim in the first half.

“We did a good job of keeping (Cooper) from feeling comfortable, finding that little jump shot that she has,” Beeman said. “It’s a beautiful jump shot.”

During UH’s 27-point second quarter, UCR coach Nicole Powell went through several lineups. Many did not include Cooper.

“When you give up 27 points in the second quarter, you’re trying to find a spark,” Powell said.

Cooper finished with four points on 2-for-8 shooting in 17 minutes, 35 seconds

Atwell, a sixth-year Wahine, indicated reaching the tournament final was not enough.

“I never won a championship in my six years,” Atwell said. “Our job’s not done yet.”