The University of Hawaii women’s basketball team completed its two-game road trip with its fifth victory in a row Saturday, plus some investment for the future.

Coach Laura Beeman met her goal of keeping everyone under 25 minutes played, as the Rainbow Wahine routed Cal State Bakersfield 66-37 at the Roadrunners’ Icardo Center.

UH improved to 11-6 overall and 5-2 in the Big West. The Roadrunners fell to 1-16 and 1-6 in the conference.

“A lot of it is about fresh legs, for now and for March,” said Beeman in a phone interview, after 11 players logged between 14 and 24 minutes for UH. “Coming out of this with limited minutes is good because of what we’ve got coming up.”

The team is the healthiest it has been this season as UH returns home for games against fellow Big West contenders UC Davis (6-2) on Thursday and UC Irvine (6-1) on Saturday.

Saturday’s result was rarely in doubt, as the Rainbow Wahine scored the first eight points and led 37-15 at halftime.

UH’s height was a factor from the outset, as 6-foot-5 freshman center Ritorya Tamilo scored the first two baskets. Frontline 6-foot-4 players Brooklyn Rewers and Imani Perez led the Wahine with 15 and 10 points. Marley Langi led the hosts with 11.

“We’re starting to pass the ball inside better, and getting that inside-outside movement,” Beeman said. “We’re taking some pressure off of Lily (Wahinekapu, UH’s starting point guard and leading scorer). She can be a scoring machine, but we have lots of different ways to score, with lots of different players to do it.”

Bakersfield scored back-to-back baskets just once in the first half, when it got the last five points of the first quarter to close to 14-10. Hawaii responded by dominating the second quarter 23-5.

The Roadrunners had just 14 turnovers, but 10 were the result of UH steals, with three apiece by MeiLani McBee, Jovi Lefotu and Mia ‘Uhila.

CSUB shot a meager 26.9% from the floor (including 13.3% from 3-point range).

“On defense we want to be as disruptive as possible, no clean looks. No clean looks for layups, no clean looks for 3-pointers,” Beeman said. “It was a good job of disrupting their timing.”

Tamilo had six rebounds and Rewers and Perez added five each as Hawaii enjoyed a 46-24 advantage on the glass.

Hawaii had 18 turnovers. It’s too many for Beeman’s taste, but she agreed it was somewhat expected with so many different players getting significant minutes, especially young ones.

“Some new lineups, going with different looks, and playing fast,” Beeman said. “I don’t like that number at all, but it will improve in the games we have coming up.”