Hawaii shuts down UC Irvine to take over first place in Big West
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii guard Lily Wahinekapu gets around UC Irvine guard Shirel Nahum.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii guard Daejah Phillips shoots the ball over UC Irvine forward Nevaeh Dean.
MeiLani McBee scored a game-high 14 points, all in the second half, to help the Hawaii women’s basketball team take over first place in the Big West with a 55-43 win over UC Irvine Saturday night.
A SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,555 watched the Rainbow Wahine (12-8, 9-2) hold the Anteaters (14-7, 8-3) to less than 50 points for a second time this season to break out of a tie with UC Irvine for first place in the conference.
Lily Wahinekapu added 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals and Imani Perez had 10 points and six rebounds after missing Thursday’s game for UH, which has won seven straight at home.
Deja Lee scored a game-high 21 points on 9-for-19 shooting for UC Irvine, which shot 25 percent (16-for-64) from the field. UCI failed to make a 3-pointer and went 3-for-39 from long range in two regular season games against Hawaii.
Hawaii won despite committing 17 turnovers.
UH will hit the road for its next two games beginning Thursday at UC San Diego.
