A fast start for Hawaii’s new-look lineup spurred the Rainbow Wahine basketball team to a 71-50 win over Eastern Illinois on Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
With two starters out of action and two freshmen making their first starts of the season, UH raced to a 20-5 lead in the first quarter, weathered a second-quarter lull and pulled away from the Panthers in the second half.
Senior forward Amy Atwell scored 16 points to lead four Hawaii players in double figures in UH’s opening game of the three-day Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
UH freshman forward Nnenna Orji recorded a double-double in her first career start with 10 points — on 5-for-5 shooting from the field — and 10 rebounds for the Rainbow Wahine (2-3). Guard McKenna Haire hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter on her way to a 10-point performance and center Maeve Donnelly scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter.
“We’re still dealing with the injury bug, so trying to get healthy is always a challenge, but to have people that step up when you’re in these positions is really great,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “It’s just going to improve our depth for conference.
“I thought the energy, the overall effort, was great from start to finish tonight. Where we have not had four consistent quarters of good basketball, I thought we had three to three and a half tonight.”
UH was without two starters in forward Kallin Spiller, who was on crutches, and guard Olivia Davies, and Beeman said the team is “taking it a day at a time,” with the duo.
The absences pushed Orji and fellow freshman Meilani McBee into the starting lineup for the first time this season.
“At first I was a little nervous, but I wasn’t scared,” Orji said. “Because this whole week we’ve been pracitcing hard and a lot of people have been in and out, so I’ve been ready.
McBee, who hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in Sunday’s win over Portland State, hit two from long range and had three rebounds and two blocks. Guard Daejah Phillips sat out last week’s tournament and contributed six points, six assists and seven rebounds in her return on Friday.
Point guard Nae Nae Calhoun sparked UH’s opening surge with two 3-pointers in the first four minutes and finished with eight points.
Atwell, coming off a Big West Player of the Week performance in last weekend’s the Bank of Hawaii Classic, went 0-for-5 from 3-point range on Friday. But she helped UH take command with 10 points in the third quarter, scoring twice in transition, once on a putback and then on a drive into the lane.
“That’s been a point of emphasis with Amy,” Beeman said. “People aren’t going to let you stand out there and shoot 3s, it’s just not going to happen. So you have to get creative, you have to learn to score in different ways. She has really put in the time in the offseason to score in different ways, off the dribble into pull-ups, finishing at the rim.
“To see her not get frustrated that her shot wasn’t falling and to continue to work on finding different ways to score was really fun to see.”
The round-robin tournament continues today with UH facing Utah at 2:30 p.m. Beeman noted UH’s turnover total as an issue to address going into the meeting with the Utes (4-1).
“We can’t turn the ball over 21 times, and lot of them just self-inflicted,” Beeman said “We have to limit our turnovers. If we have 21 against a team like Utah it’ll be a very long day for us.”
Julia Bengtson led Eastern Illinois (4-1) with 12 points. The Panthers cut a 19-point lead to seven in the second quarter and trailed 39-30 midway through the third quarter. But UH put together a 15-6 run to regain control.
Gonzaga 89, Utah 71
Abby O’Connor led four Bulldogs in double figures with 21 points and Gonzaga (4-1) handed the Utes their first loss of the season.
O’Connor shot 9-for-11 from the fleld, draining three of four 3-point attempts. Kayleigh Truong added 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting for the Bulldogs, who shot 49% from the field and outrebounded Utah 43-21.
Gianna Kneepkens went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and led Utah with 15 points.
