Amy Atwell scored 16 points and Jadynn Alexander added 12 as Hawaii stunned UC Davis 70-60, handing the Aggies their first loss in Big West Conference play on Friday at SimpliFi Arena.
Freshman Kelsie Imai played a major role with 10 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Rainbow Wahine improved to 7-5 in league play (8-6 overall).
“One, we were at home and it was senior week, and we had our motivation. We were able to put points on the board, not having offensive lulls,” Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. “The intensity was there. The urgency was there. The rotations were there.”
Cierra Hall scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the third quarter for UC Davis. Mackenzie Trpcic added 13 and center Sage Stobbart tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds.
UC Davis came to Honolulu with a four-game win streak, but fell to 8-1 in BWC action (9-2 overall). Hawaii had not beaten the Aggies since Jan. 12, 2019, losing four in a row in their series.
The Rainbow Wahine and Aggies have a rematch today at 6 p.m., in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Coming into the game, UC Davis’ only loss was to No. 11-ranked Oregon, 63-57, in Eugene. Hawaii outrebounded the tall Aggies 43-34 and committed just nine turnovers.
The visitors trailed from the start, falling behind by 16 in the second quarter. They cut the lead to 49-47 before the third stanza ended, going on a 7-0 run with help from Imai, who was whistled for a technical foul.
Imai wasn’t sure what the infraction was for. It wasn’t anything she said.
“I don’t know. Sometimes people take aggressiveness as something else,” Imai said.
Beeman was glad to see her team respond positively to momentum changes.
“(UC Davis) is going to go on a run whether tech or not. The game’s a little chippy, there’s some bumping. The official said this is what went down, I said look at both sides. Nothing major,” she said.
Clinging to a narrow lead, Hawaii opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 mini-run behind balanced scoring. Hawaii extended the lead to 57-49 as Olivia Davies hit two foul shots and scored on a backdoor pass from Atwell.
The lead was down to 57-53 when Imai returned. She sank a straightaway 3 and Meilani McBee followed with a clutch three-point play to open Hawaii’s lead to 63-55 with 3:31 left.
The Aggies got no closer than seven points the rest of the way. Davies fed Atwell and Alexander for layups against UC Davis’ full-court press down the stretch to fend off the visitors.