For two minutes and 37 seconds in the first quarter, the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team held a slim lead over No. 2 Stanford inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Sunday.
Once Stanford forward Cameron Brink completed a 3-point play with 6:02 left in the quarter, the Rainbow Wahine trailed the rest of the way, losing 68-39 in the final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
“I know the scores don’t show it. I know our overall record is not great, we’ve become a better team this weekend,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “Really happy with this team’s overall effort and the way we grew this weekend. No one’s happy about our record, but it’s not where you start.”
UH (1-6) held the Cardinal to their lowest point total this season and outscored them 15-11 in the third quarter but were held scoreless at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter.
“We have to figure out why we’re coming out of the gate slow, turning the ball over and digging a hole because that is really hard to come back from when you play good teams,” Beeman said.
UH committed 20 turnovers on Sunday and Stanford (8-1) scored 25 points off them. The Rainbow Wahine committed six turnovers in the opening quarter and did not score for a stretch of nearly six minutes in the period.
Rainbow Wahine guard Lily Wahinekapu’s layup with 44 seconds left in the first quarter ended what was an 18-0 Cardinal run, and Stanford forward Ashten Prechtel made three of her five 3s on the night in the first quarter to fuel Stanford’s 23-2 run to close out the first quarter.
“They know how to work the ball and they’re very agile,” UH forward Imani Perez said about Stanford’s forwards. “It’s different guarding than what we guarded for Florida Gulf Coast and Grambling State, so you have to adjust to it and I guess I adjusted in different ways.”
Wahinekapu led UH with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Perez recorded seven points and six rebounds in her first career start as a Rainbow Wahine.
“I thought she did fabulous tonight. She didn’t foul out, she got boards. She used her body, she used her length,” Beeman said about the 6-foot-4 Perez. “She was going against an All-American all night long, and I thought she did a fabulous job.”
Brink finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Stanford and Ashten Prechtel recorded a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, both team-highs for the Cardinal.
Kallin Spiller and Daejah Phillips were the Hawaii representatives on the all-tournament team, joining Florida Gulf Coast’s Tishara Morehouse, Grambling State’s Colbi Maples, and Stanford’s Brink and Haley Jones. Jones was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after averaging 14 points over the three games this weekend.
Florida Gulf Coast 73, Grambling State 67
Florida Gulf Coast had four of its players score 14 points or more in its win against Grambling State on Sunday. The three starting guards for the Eagles — led by Kaela Webb’s team-high 18 points — combined for 50 of FGCU’s 73 points. Forward Uju Ezeudu added 14 points off the bench.
Guard Phylicia Allen scored a team-high 16 points for Grambling State.
