Hawaii junior Daejah Phillips was named the Big West Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday.
The 5-foot-10 guard helped the Rainbow Wahine (12-8, 9-2) take over sole possession of first place with key home wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine last week.
Phillips, who is the first Rainbow Wahine to earn the honor since Amy Atwell two seasons ago, carried UH to a 66-61 win over the Titans on Thursday with a season-high 22 points and three steals.
Phillips scored 11 of her points in the fourth quarter and had the highest scoring game of any Rainbow Wahine player this season.
UH broke out of a first-place tie against UC Irvine with a 55-43 win on Saturday. Phillips had nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and a block.
Playing primarily off the bench this season, Phillips is second on the team averaging 9.7 points per game and leads UH in assists (44) and steals (30).
Hawaii softball picked sixth in Big West
The Hawaii softball team was picked to finish sixth out of 10 teams in the Big West Conference in the preseason poll released Monday.
Hawaii received 46 votes from the conference’s head coaches, finishing one point behind UC Davis.
Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State were separated by two points at the top of the poll, with the Titans earning the No. 1 spot ahead of the defending champions.
UH senior utility player Maya Nakamura was the lone Hawaii representative on the All-Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team.
Nakamura started 50 games last season and hit .390 while playing second base. She led UH in walks (29) and runs scored (35) and finished in the top five in the conference in seven offensive categories.
UH, which opens the season hosting the Bank of Hawaii Paradise Classic beginning Thursday, returns seven starting position players and four pitchers from last year’s team that finished 30-23.
