Laura Beeman insists her excitement for her Hawaii’s women’s basketball team this year isn’t any different than in her 12 previous seasons as head coach.
The three-time Big West Coach of the Year has a team loaded with her top six scorers from a season ago and a mix of newcomers and players returning from injury that are all vying for playing time in a fierce practice gym that has been competitive for the past month.
After two impressive exhibition victories, including a 42-point win over Chaminade on Saturday, the Rainbow Wahine will make their regular-season debut this weekend in Oregon — at Portland on Thursday and at Portland State on Saturday.
Beeman’s team, which won the regular season last season with a 17-3 record, was picked to win the conference again this season.
On paper, it is unquestionably one of the best teams Hawaii has had. In order to make the most of such a talented and deep squad, Beeman tempered expectations a bit on Monday before the team left for the continent on Tuesday.
“I think the biggest thing is going to be as the season goes on, if we do what we’re supposed to do, does that pressure bust pipes? And that’s what we don’t want to happen,” Beeman said. “Potential is such a huge word, and I think it sets you up for failure. We have the pieces, right, but we have to put it together on the floor. I am excited for this season, but I don’t think I’m more or less excited than in previous years.”
One thing she pointed to was UH getting off to slow starts in recent years. Beeman has continually scheduled competitive nonconference games, and it has resulted in Hawaii opening 2-5 last season after losing seven of their first eight games in 2022.
The Pilots, who host the Rainbow Wahine on Thursday at 4 p.m., were picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference and received two first-place votes.
Senior guards Maisie Burnham and Emme Shearer were picked to the All-WCC preseason team after finishing as the top two scorers last season for a Pilots team that went 21-13 and played in the NCAA Tournament.
“When you have a veteran team, opening weekend isn’t as daunting,” Beeman said. “They understand the travel. They understand the expectation. They understand what we are trying to do. When you have a veteran team, hopefully that will help us this preseason, but again, our preseason schedule is not easy. It’s not like we softened up our schedule.”
While cautious about drawing too many conclusions from exhibition games, Beeman started guards Lily Wahinekapu and Daejah Phillips in both games, as well as forward Brooklyn Rewers.
Freshman Ritorya Tamilo, a 6-foot-4 center from New Zealand, was especially impressive in the preseason, scoring 16 points in 17 minutes against Chaminade on 7-for-10 shooting with five rebounds, two steals and a block.
She had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks on 4-for-4 shooting from the field in 15 minutes against Hawaii-Hilo.
“The great thing is I don’t think we will have a consistent starting lineup the entire year,” Beeman said. “I think we’re going to have the luxury of kind of moving pieces around, whether it’s want to rest someone, little bit of load management, keep someone hungry, just a better matchup for an opponent, whatever it may be.”
After Hawaii plays Saturday, it will have 13 days off before hosting Louisiana-Monroe to start the Bank of Hawaii Classic on Nov. 22.
UH will host the American Savings Bank Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Thanksgiving weekend the following week, culminating in a game on Dec. 1 against No. 5 UCLA.
RAINBOW WAHINE BASKETBALL
Hawaii (0-0) vs. Portland (0-0)
>> Thursday, 4 p.m.
>> Chiles Center, Portland, Ore.
Hawaii vs. Portland State (0-0)
>> Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
>> Viking Pavilion, Portland, Ore.
>> Stream: ESPN+
>> Radio: None
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Washington 79, UC Davis 73
Great Osobor had 15 points and 17 rebounds as the Huskies rallied from a 58-53 deficit in the second half Tuesday and held off the Aggies, who got 35 points from Ty Johnson.
San Francisco 86, Cal Poly 78
Tyrone Riley IV scored 26 points and Malik Thomas 23 as the Dons held off the Mustangs.
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Star-Advertiser staff
