Hawaii’s ability to rebound — on the court and within the schedule — will be tested again when the Rainbow Wahine basketball team faces Cal Poly tonight to close this week’s homestand.
Following Thursday’s loss to UC Davis, UH coach Laura Beeman pointed to rebounding, combined with a frigid performance from the field, among the keys to the 57-47 decision and the upcoming matchup with Cal Poly, “because they’re very physical and very aggressive to the boards.”
In the wider view, the Rainbow Wahine (8-12, 6-5) have so far proven adept at bouncing back from losses in Big West play entering tonight’s meeting with the Mustangs (6-13, 3-8) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Since a 50-47 win in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on New Year’s Eve, UH’s schedule has been devoid of streaks in alternating wins and losses over the past 10 games.
The Wahine will look to continue the trend of splitting their weeks against a Cal Poly team that snapped a four-game losing streak with a 69-64 win at home over then-second-place UC Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Recent season-ending injuries to guards Olivia Davies and Jovi Lefotu and forward Jacque David created new on-court combinations for the Wahine against UC Davis.
UH started a lineup of forward Kallin Spiller, who has started 32 consecutive games, and four guards in Lily Wahinekapu, Kelsie Imai, Meilani McBee and McKenna Haire.
While the Wahine gave up some height to the Aggies, Beeman said the more telling factor was making contact with their opponents with the ball in the air.
“(UC Davis) did have height, but if you get into someone’s legs, they kind of lose that height,” Beeman said. “So that’s just an area we have to be a little more cognizant about going into Saturday.
“I believe this team will. They know when they saw the stat that that was something that really got us besides shooting. Rebounds and free throws were crucial tonight.”
UH went cold on all three levels offensively, shooting a season-low 25% from the field (15-for-60) and going 2-for-23 from 3-point range and 15-for-24 from the free-throw line, as they looked to create chemistry within some new on-court combinations.
“We had some really pretty offensive plays tonight, just moving the ball, wide open shots, didn’t hit those shots. Those are the ones you have to hit,” Beeman said. “There’s a little bit of everything that contributes to a percentage like that shooting the ball.”
Wahinekapu posted her sixth straight game in double figures with a team-high 14 points against UC Davis.
“We’ve got the head of our snake right here,” Beeman said, putting a hand on Wahinekapu’s shoulder. “She does a great job of trying to facilitate and finding people, it’s just right now we’ve got funky lineups and we’ve got to figure out those lineups.”
Spiller led UH with 18 points in the first meeting with Cal Poly, when the Wahine scored just 14 points in the first half before rallying after the break. Spiller sparked the comeback with a 3-pointer to open the third quarter and scored nine points in the fourth quarter.
Point guard Annika Shah, a 5-foot-3 sophomore, leads Cal Poly with 10.6 points per game. Oumou Toure, a 5-11 guard, is next at 8.5 and led the Mustangs with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the win over UCSB on Thursday. Toure did not play in the first meeting with UH.
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Big West women’s basketball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Cal Poly (6-13, 3-8) vs. Hawaii (8-12, 6-5)
>> When: Today, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1500-AM
