Hawaii coach Laura Beeman isn’t one to shield the Rainbow Wahine basketball team from the stakes.

So the ramifications of Thursday’s home game with Long Beach State are an open topic for discussion within the team.

While UC Riverside has opened up some separation atop the Big West standings at 8-0 in conference play, Long Beach State entered the week at 6-2 with UH right behind at 7-3, both, mathematically speaking, two games out of the lead.

Thursday’s winner at the Stan Sheriff Center will then have the edge on a spot in the top two, which comes with a pass into the semifinals of the Big West tournament in March.

“We talk about it,” Beeman said. “We talked about it before Santa Barbara (last Saturday), that it was a game that had second-place implications, that we don’t have wiggle room right now. I told them when we wrapped up practice (on Monday) … that this is for second place.”

The Wahine (14-9) face Long Beach State (17-5) for the second time this season in the opening game of a UH basketball doubleheader on Thursday. Tip-off for the women’s game is set for 5:30 p.m., with the Rainbow Warriors set to follow against UC Irvine at 8 in a battle for first place in the Big West.

The Wahine return to the Sheriff Center for “Blackout Night” on a four-game winning streak after grinding out road wins at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara last week.

After alternating road trips and homestands over the last five weeks, the Wahine have just two games, both at the Sheriff Center, over the next two weeks.

“It’s just nice to be home for two weeks,” Beeman said. “It’s nice to come back off of a really tough road trip with two wins and having some confidence and really starting to get in our stride. I don’t think we’re in it, but we’re starting to get there.”

UH capped last week’s trip with Ashleigh Karaitiana’s game-winning 3-pointer in a 63-62 victory over UCSB and Beeman said coming off road wins “adds to the energy, it adds to the confidence, it adds to that feeling of we know who we are now.”

UH opened the Big West schedule with a 67-55 road win over Long Beach State at the Pyramid, taking control with a 25-point first quarter.

Thursday’s matchup will feature the two stingiest teams in the Big West, with LBSU holding opponents to a league-low 58.4 points per game and UH giving up 60.

In Big West play, UH is surrendering 57.8 points per game while holding opponents to 38.4 percent shooting.

LBSU shot 34 percent from the field in the first meeting, but the 49ers enter the rematch as the Big West’s top 3-point shooting team since the start of conference play.

The 49ers have made a league-high 69 3-pointers and are shooting 39 percent from behind the arc in Big West games. Junior guard Raven Benton leads LBSU with 12.8 points per game overall and 13.9 in the Big West.

“They’re doing the same stuff defensively, pretty frantic. Offensively is where I think they’ve had a lot of improvement,” Beeman said. “We’re going to have to be careful of some of their shooters and some of their drivers.”

Destiny King continues to fill the stat sheet for the Wahine, averaging a team-high 10.4 points per game with 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She also leads the team with 26 steals.