Daejah Phillips sees value in observing.
After starting 13 of the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team’s first 14 games this season, the sophomore guard’s current role coming off the bench for much of the Big West season came by her request.
“I asked Coach (Laura) Beeman to bring me off the bench so I can get a feel for the game,” Phillips said. “And I play better coming off the bench.”
Phillips, the Big West Sixth Player of the Year in the 2020-21 season, provided energy and production off the bench last weekend to help the Rainbow Wahine sweep a road trip and generate momentum entering today’s meeting with conference leader Long Beach State at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
She moved into a tie with guard Lily Wahinekapu for the team’s scoring lead with an 18-point performance off the bench a week ago at Cal State Fullerton, playing 34 minutes after watching the opening moments from the bench.
“If Daejah wants to start she can start. If she wants to come off the bench she can come off the bench,” Beeman said. “She’s a young lady that puts the work in and she’s earned that request, if you will. If I were to say to Daejah ‘I need you to start,’ she would. She’s a team player.
“I think for Daejah she just wants to get a feel for the game and she can stay on the floor because she understands what’s going on and she knows what to do.”
Phillips attacked the paint in the second half in UH’s 60-54 win in Fullerton a week ago and finished 8-for-14 from the field. She averages 11 points and 3.8 rebounds and ranks second on the team with 59 assists, just behind Wahinekapu’s 62. She also leads the team with 36 steals and her focus on defense flowed into her scoring performance.
“I think for Daejah when she’s playing well defensively and getting boards it helps her focus on offense,” Beeman said. “For her to be truly locked in on both sides of the ball is amazing for us.”
The Rainbow Wahine (11-12, 9-5 Big West) open a Saturday-Monday homestand looking to lock in against a Long Beach State (18-7, 13-2) team that enters today’s matchup riding an 11-game winning streak.
The Beach’s run to the top of the Big West standings included a 62-48 win over UH on Jan. 14 in a game relocated to the Gold Mine, an auxiliary gym, due to a leaky roof at the Walter Pyramid. LBSU came up with 14 steals and scored 19 points off UH turnovers in the win.
Long Beach State leads the Big West with 11.92 steals per game, and opponents are averaging 20.2 turnovers per game.
“It was definitely the length, the speed, the athleticism,” Beeman said of the keys to Long Beach State’s win in the first meeting. “They’ve got some tall young ladies at the top of that press and I think at times it was hard for our guards to see around them.
“I also think we were really passive offensively. We didn’t shoot the ball when were open, we didn’t attack when we needed to attack. I’d like to see our team at our best against them and see where the chips fall.”
Tori Harris, a 6-foot-1 guard, leads the Beach with 13.8 points per game. Guard Kristyna Jeskeova, a 6-2 junior, tops the Big West with 63 steals. Kianna Hamilton-Fisher (54) and Ma’Qhi Berry (53) rank third and fourth in the conference.
UH enters today’s game tied for third with UC Santa Barbara and will close the homestand on Monday against CSU Bakersfield in a game scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m.
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Big West women’s basketball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Long Beach State (18-7, 13-2) vs. Hawaii (11-12, 9-5)
>> When: Today, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM/92.7-FM
