The Hawaii women’s basketball team played its most complete game of the season Sunday, and it all started with an effective 2-2-1 three-quarter court trap and stellar play from the Rainbow Wahine’s two preseason All-Big West selections.
It all led to a “fun game” for Hawaii coach Laura Beeman.
Daejah Phillips scored 17 points, Lily Wahinekapu added 14 and Hawaii forced 26 turnovers in a 73-47 rout of San Jose State at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The duo combined to score 23 points in the first half, when the Rainbow Wahine took a 40-17 lead.
“Overall, that’s a fun game,” Beeman said. “To put points on the board, playing great defense, celebrating each other like crazy, bouncing back big time from some tough games … so very, very proud of this group.”
The Rainbow Wahine (3-5) reached a season high in points with the previous mark being a 65-51 victory over San Francisco on Nov. 17.
Hawaii made 13-of-24 shots from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, before halftime.
The Rainbow Wahine’s trapping defense led to multiple turnovers and run-outs. They finished with 14 fast-break points. When the Spartans got past half court, they were often stymied by Hawaii’s man-to-man defense and forced to take low-percentage field-goal attempts with the shot clock ticking down.
“It was fun playing with a lead to start with and we just came out with a lot of energy,” Wahinekapu said. “We shared the ball well and we focused on our defense and turned it translated into our offense.”
The Rainbow Wahine finished with 15 steals, including four by Phillips and three each by Brooklyn Rewers and Wahinekapu.
“I just saw they were going to the spots we normally trap at and as soon as they picked the ball up, it was just don’t let them see out,” Phillips said. “I’m not as tall, but I can jump very high, so trying to throw it over my head is going to be very tough.”
Hawaii’s high-intensity defense was best summed up with 1:51 remaining in the first half and the team ahead 36-15.
A Spartan player fumbled the ball and casually went to pick it up, and Wahinekapu dove to the floor and caused a jump ball, which gave the Rainbow Wahine possession.
“We go hard in practice and sometimes we don’t always dive for those loose balls and we just need to bring that kind of energy, that mentality like every loose ball is ours,” Wahinekapu said.
The Rainbow Wahine finished 22-of-45 from the field, including 7-of-16 from 3-point range, and 22-of-25 from the free-throw line. Imani Perez finished with 12 points, and Rewers and Kelsie Imai each added nine for Hawaii.
The Spartans (4-6) were 18-of-48 from the field and 4-of-15 from 3-point range. Amhyia Moreland and Semaj Smith each scored 13 points for San Jose State.
Hawaii made its first five shots — all from different players — to take a 12-0 lead with 6:13 left in the first quarter. Wahinekapu and MeiLani McBee made 3-pointers during the surge.
San Jose State started 0-for-7 with four turnovers. The Spartans’ first field goal was by Finau Tonga with 3:40 left, which made it 13-2.
Hawaii’s largest lead of the quarter was 18-2 after Wahinekapu’s field goal with 1:25 left.
“The way we shared the ball and the way we pushed our tempo in that first quarter, it was really pretty to watch,” Beeman said.
The Rainbow Wahine finished the quarter 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
Hawaii continued its onslaught by shooting 6-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, in the second quarter.
San Jose State made 7-of-20 shots and committed 14 turnovers in the first half.
The Rainbow Wahine had averaged 24.0 points at halftime in their previous seven games.
Hawaii’s largest lead was 49-20 after Phillips’ free throw with 6:12 remaining in the third.
The Spartans got as close as 62-44 with 3:16 left, before the Rainbow Wahine finished strong.
Hawaii’s next game is at UCLA on Dec. 21, then the Rainbow Wahine open Big West play at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 30.
HAWAII 73, SAN JOSE STATE 47
SPARTANS (4-6)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Fluker 12 0-0 1-2 1 1 0 1
Moreland 16 5-9 2-3 3 1 3 13
Summers 23 3-7 0-0 1 2 1 9
Jones 15 0-1 0-0 4 1 0 0
Ma 26 0-5 1-2 3 0 3 1
Nicholas 28 1-4 0-0 3 4 2 2
Davis-Jones 16 1-1 2-4 1 0 5 4
Singleton 27 0-4 0-0 2 3 3 0
Smith 16 6-8 1-1 3 0 1 13
Tonga 8 1-3 0-0 2 1 1 2
Quow 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Kelemeni 12 1-6 0-0 1 0 0 2
TEAM 5
TOTALS 200 18-48 7-12 29 13 19 47
RAINBOW WAHINE (3-5)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Perez 27 6-9 0-0 4 2 1 12
Rewers 32 4-11 0-0 5 0 3 9
Wahinekapu 29 5-6 2-2 5 3 1 14
McBee 26 2-3 0-0 4 1 2 6
Davies 14 0-0 4-5 0 3 2 4
Phillips 28 3-8 9-10 0 3 2 17
Imai 17 1-2 7-8 3 1 2 9
Berrett 8 1-4 0-0 0 0 1 2
Peacock 12 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0
Thoms 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Birdsong 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 3
TOTALS 200 22-45 22-25 25 13 16 73
SCORE BY PERIOD
San Jose State 4 13 15 15 – 47
Hawaii 18 22 16 17 – 73
3-point goals — SJSU 4-15 (Summers 3-5, Moreland 1-1, Singleton 0-2, Ma 0-3, Kelemeni 0-4). Hawaii 7-16 (Wahinekapu 2-2, McBee 2-3, Phillips 2-6, Rewers 1-2, Imai 0-1, Peacock 0-1, Birdsong 0-1). Steals — SJSU 3 (Moreland, Nicholas, Kelemeni). Hawaii 13 (Phillips 4, Rewers 3, Wahinekapu 3, Perez 2, Davies). Blocked shots — SJSU 2 (Moreland, Smith). Hawaii 2 (Rewers, McBee). Turnovers — SJSU 26 (Nicholas 7, Davis-Jones 5, Jones 3, Singleton 3, Moreland 2, Ma 2, Tonga 2, Fluker, TEAM). Hawaii 15 (Imai 4, Rewers 3, Phillips 3, Wahinekapu 2, Berrett 2, Perez). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Esther Hsu, Josh Batin, Starr Rivera. A — n/a.
