The Hawaii women’s basketball team capped off “Beeman’s Bigger Bash” earning a share of first place in the Big West Conference.

A season-high crowd of 2,978, which sounded double that size at times during a tight fourth quarter, watched Hawaii hold UC Irvine without a field goal for more than nine minutes to close out a 46-42 victory on Saturday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Lily Wahinekapu scored a team-high 13 points and made both free throws with 30 seconds remaining to extend Hawaii’s lead to 45-42.

The Anteaters hadn’t made a basket from the field in the fourth quarter until Lauryn Madsen and Deja Lee made 3-pointers 12 seconds apart in the final minute to pull within a point.

UCI got a look to tie the game from the top of the arc by Madsen with 17 seconds remaining, but the ball rimmed off and eventually ended up out of bounds off of the Anteaters.

Jovi Lefotu made one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game and Ritorya Tamilo swatted a 3-pointer out of bounds with four seconds remaining for her third block that basically ended it.

“For this team to have the grit that they did, figure things out after that first half, and do what they did, particularly in the fourth quarter, I think that we probably gained a lot of fans tonight,” Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. “(The crowd) was unbelievable. They gave us the extra energy that was needed. It was an incredible environment.”

The 6-foot-5 Tamilo finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Imani Perez added nine points and 10 rebounds as Hawaii’s frontcourt starters did their job on the glass.

Hawaii moved to 13-6 overall and 7-2 in the conference, tying the Anteaters (13-6, 7-2) and Long Beach State, which was upset by Cal Poly earlier Saturday.

Hawaii has won a season-high seven straight games.

“We’re just going to keep believing in our process and keep moving forward,” Beeman said. “I want to be in first place come March. That’s the goal.”

UH shot 30.2% (16-for-53) from the field but forced UCI to shoot 24.2% (15-for-62) from the floor. Hawaii has held its last seven opponents to 50 points or less.

Tamilo recorded her first double-double as a Rainbow Wahine and set a career high in rebounds reaching double figures for the second time.

Her block at the end helped hold the Anteaters to 13.3% (2-for-15) shooting in the fourth quarter.

“I was thinking, ‘Thank God I got the ball,’” Tamilo said. “Thank God it wasn’t a foul, but yeah, that was super cool to see the crowd’s reaction.”

Hawaii’s starting backcourt of Wahinekapu and Mia ‘Uhila started with 0-for-7 shooting in a sluggish first quarter offensively for UH, which was held to five points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field and turned the ball over six times.

Tamilo scored all five of UH’s points, including a 3-point play with 6:35 on the clock for UH’s final points in the opening 10 minutes.

A Summah Hanson 3-pointer put UC Irvine up 11-5 as the Anteaters closed the quarter on an 8-0 run with UH missing its last seven shots.

A left-handed hook shot in the paint by Imani Perez broke a UH scoreless drought that lasted more than eight minutes. Wahinekapu hit two 3-pointers in the second quarter to pull UH within two but the Anteaters responded with a steal and score from Nikki Tom and another 3 from Hanson to lead 22-17 at intermission.

UH exploded out of the locker room in the second half with layups by MeiLani McBee, Tamilo and Perez to give Hawaii a 23-22 lead and prompt UCI to call a quick timeout.

Beeman ran onto the court and was fired up at her team’s start to the third quarter.

“I think sometimes whether we’re playing well, whether we’re not playing well, these guys need to know that we absolutely believe in them,” Beeman said. “That timeout I was incredibly proud of just the grit and the confidence. I don’t get that pumped up often but that warranted it.”

The Anteaters quickly surged back in front with a 7-0 run capped by a Hunter Hernandez 3.

UCI led by as many as eight before taking a 33-28 lead into the final quarter.

Hawaii outscored UCI 18-9 in the final period.

Hawaii hits the road next week beginning Thursday at UC San Diego.