Still alone at the top of the Big West standings, the Hawaii women’s basketball team suddenly finds itself feeling vulnerable with the conference tournament less than two weeks away.
An 0-2 roadtrip in which a 14-game winning streak came to an ended concluded with a frustrating 74-66 loss to UC Davis on Saturday at University Credit Union Center in Davis, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (20-8, 14-4) allowed their most points in a game since the season opener and were outscored 47-29 in the second half, which included an especially ugly third quarter.
Tova Sabel, the Aggies’ leading scorer, had 14 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter to help UC Davis (18-10, 12-6) score on its final seven possessions with 16 points total in the last 2:23.
The Big West’s best defensive team suddenly couldn’t get a stop, and with an offense that sputtered again in the second half, finds itself with a few problems to fix in a short amount of time.
“Right now we haven’t figured out what we need to do to win a championship,” Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said in a postgame Zoom call. “If we keep turning the ball over like we are, we’re going to keep losing and our tournament run is going to be real short.”
Hawaii remained a game ahead of UC Irvine with two to play after the Anteaters lost by 21 points to Long Beach State on Saturday.
Its final two home games are against the bottom two teams in the league with a combined four wins.
UH would have to lose both times to potentially not get the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which is extremely unlikely.
Of much bigger concern is coming back from a winless roadtrip in which some of UH’s biggest weaknesses were exposed.
“Bottom line, that was a game we should have won. This group does not feel good,” Beeman said. “We need to stop turning the ball over. That third quarter was silly, absolutely silly.”
Jovi Lefotu led Hawaii with 15 points off the bench and Lily Wahinekapu added 13 points despite shooting 4-for-17 from the field.
UH led by double figures at 37-27 entering the third quarter when the Aggies exploded for 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting to tie the game at 47-all going into the final 10 minutes.
Nya Epps drove the lane for two open layoffs to cap a 7-0 run to start the quarter and Megan Norris hit two 3-pointers to help UCD lead by as many as five.
A Lefotu layup off a UC Davis turnover matched UH’s largest lead in the fourth quarter at 56-53.
Sabel connected on an open 3 with 4:17 remaining started a 21-10 run to end it.
“It’s a 40-minute ballgame and we gave her two big 3’s just because we lost sight of her, and that’s just not allowable to blow that kind of defensive assignment against that kind of player,” Beeman said. “You can’t lose a player like her.”
Hawaii started the game on a 10-0 run with Ritorya Tamilo and Brooklyn Rewers doing most of the damage.
Tamilo hit three free throws and grabbed four rebounds and Rewers entered the game and promptly scored in the post and from 3 for the quick 10-point lead.
The Aggies came out of a timeout and hit two 3-pointers, besting the 1-for-21 they shot in a loss to the Rainbow Wahine in Hawaii in January.
UH made only two field goals in the final five minutes of the first quarter and Clara Glad connected on the Aggies’ third 3-pointer to pull to 14-12.
Hawaii gave up a 13-3 run to fall behind in the second quarter, but closed with nine straight points in the final 2:26 to take a 37-27 lead into halftime.
Wahinekapu, who missed her first 11 shots, hit a pull-up jumper in the paint to cap the run. UH forced only two turnovers but outrebounded the Aggies 28 to 16 with eight offensive rebounds in the first half.
UCD attempted 18 3-pointers in the first half and eight in the second half.
Tamilo finished with seven points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes and Rewers never scored again after her early five-point barrage. She played 10 minutes.
MeiLani McBee made three 3-pointers, all in the second quarter, to move one behind tying Amy Atwell for the UH school record of 205.
