McKenna Haire knows the value of getting her work done early.
Haire’s time management skills helped her earn an Ivy League degree at Princeton before transferring to the University of Hawaii to continue her college basketball career.
On the court, the Rainbow Wahine guard positioned herself for a breakout road trip with her emphasis on preparation before the ball reached her hands.
“One of our main focuses in practice all the time is being shot ready,” Haire said. “Having your left foot down, hands ready, being greedy for the ball.”
A year after a foot injury abbreviated her first season with the Rainbow Wahine, Haire’s footwork without the ball allowed her to find her shooting rhythm in setting career highs in consecutive games.
Prior to last week’s Big West road trip, Haire had hit just just two 3-pointers in 12 attempts while playing a total of 48 minutes in nine appearances this season.
Given a shot against Long Beach State last Saturday, she connected on four attempts from long range in a 15-point performance in UH’s loss at the Gold Mine.
Two days later, she knocked down six of her eight 3-point shots to account for her career-high 18 points in UH’s 76-60 win at Cal State Northridge.
“We’ve known from Day 1 what a gem McKenna Haire is,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “She’s an amazing young woman on and off the court. … It’s rewarding as a coach to watch a kid do all the things the right way and finally get those kinds of games.”
Haire and the Rainbow Wahine (6-9, 4-2 Big West) will look to roll the momentum of Monday’s win into tonight’s matchup with conference leader UC Irvine (14-3, 6-0) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine hope Haire’s hot streak follows her from Southern California going into this week’s homestand.
Haire played in 15 games last season before she suffered a ruptured plantar fascia in her right foot. She had averaged 5.4 minutes per game before earning extended time with her outbursts at Long Beach and Northridge.
“Coach B talks about trusting the process a lot, so I really had to do that since my injury,” Haire said. “Seeing shots fall finally does feel good, but most importantly it felt good to have an offense that flowed, really play together as a unit on the court and share the ball.”
Perhaps the tone for Haire’s weekend was set even before the Wahine boarded their flight to California. UH forward Kallin Spiller spotted Matthew McConaughey at the airport and pointed him out to Haire, a devotee of the actor and now author.
“Everyone said my face lit up and I was so excited,” Haire said. “We got to take picture and after that I was a little bit of a mess, but that was a great moment for sure.”
While UH capped their road trip with a bounce-back win at CSUN on Monday, UC Irvine extended its winning streak to eight with a 70-60 win at UC Santa Barbara. The Wahine and Anteaters then shared the same flight to Honolulu on Tuesday in advance of today’s meeting.
“The schedule is crazy,” Beeman said. “I don’t think any of us are really happy about the travel and the amount of classes these kids are missing, but we were on the same flight so we’re getting the same amount of recovery time.”
Davies out for season
UH guard Olivia Davies will sit out the rest of the season after having surgery for a lower body injury.
Davies, a fourth-year sophomore, played in six games this season and missed the last four. She also sat out six games during the nonconference portion of the schedule. She averaged 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season.
Davies is the longest tenured player in the program and was selected as one of the team’s tri-captains this season. She redshirted the 2019-20 season at UH due to a knee injury.
Big West women’s basketball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
UC Irvine (14-3, 6-0 BWC) vs. Hawaii (6-9, 4-2)
>> When: Today, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1500-AM
