To go forth, the Hawaii women’s basketball team must take the fourth.
In last week’s two-game road trip to Los Angeles, coach Laura Beeman thought her Rainbow Wahine gave away the fourth quarter at Loyola Marymount — they were outscored 20-9 in the final 10 minutes of a 65-51 loss — and very nearly did the same at Pepperdine on Friday. The Waves poured in the last 12 points of the game and had four close-range shots go awry in the final seconds of a 52-51 Wahine win.
“We allowed them to miss an opportunity. They should’ve beaten us. And that’s where we have to grow and get better. We can’t be afraid,” Beeman said Thursday.
UH (2-1) gets a couple of chances to show what it has learned in this week’s Bank of Hawaii Classic, with two fast-paced, aggressive teams from the Lone Star State taking on the Wahine in 2:30 p.m. contests at the Stan Sheriff Center. Today it’s Texas-San Antonio of Conference USA and Sunday it’s Texas Southern of the SWAC.
While senior guard Julissa Tago leads the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game, junior center Lauren Rewers has stepped forward in most other respects for the Wahine, averaging 10.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. She has two double-doubles in three games after entering the season with one in her career.
True freshman point guard Nae Nae Calhoun has counted on the 6-foot-4 Rewers as a steadying force, her rock in the middle or buoy atop the key. Rewers is shooting 50% from the floor, including connecting on three 3-pointers in seven attempts (42.9%).
“I’m confident in Lauren. Wherever she’s at, I know she’s going to make the right decision, and the right choice,” Calhoun said. “Me feeding her 3s, I know she’s going to hit it, she’s confident. Me dishing it down (low), block-outs, I know she’s going to catch the ball. So me being confident in her is helping me grow my game to get her the ball when she needs it and she’s calling for it.”
Calhoun has 11 assists to eight turnovers so far, with five steals.
“She’s having some freshman struggles, but quite honestly, I could not be more pleased with her,” Beeman said. “She makes adjustments. She plays hard. She’s highly intelligent on and off the basketball court. She’s a great teammate. She knows our playbook inside and out. There are times the game gets a little fast, and so she plays fast. Those are things we can adjust.”
Sunday’s opponent, Texas Southern, is coached by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, the Olympic gold medalist, four-time WNBA champion, and Basketball Hall of Famer.
Utah of the Pac-12 is also in the tournament and faces TSU at noon today and UTSA at noon Sunday.
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BANK OF HAWAII CLASSIC
at Stan Sheriff Center
>> Today
Utah (1-3) vs. Texas Southern (1-2), noon Texas-San Antonio (3-1) at Hawaii (2-1), 2:30 p.m.
>> Sunday
Utah vs. Texas-San Antonio, noon Texas Southern at Hawaii, 2:30 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports (Sunday)
>> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM (Today and Sunday)
