Three’s a crowd … which is exactly what the Big West women’s basketball standings look like today.

Hawaii feels happy, and a bit relieved, to be included in the group tied for the conference lead.

The Rainbow Wahine had to put their collective thoughts about Saturday’s big game with Big West tri-lead Cal Poly behind them Thursday, grinding out a 60-43 win over winless UC Santa Barbara at the Stan Sheriff Center. Junior guard Destiny King scored 15 points and Hawaii (14-7, 6-2) overcame a ragged first half to pull away from the Gauchos (0-21, 0-8) in front of 661.

"It was just one of those games that we knew we had to focus and not look past," senior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu, who added 10 points. "We knew Santa Barbara was hungry for their first win and we didn’t want to be it.

"We have to play Hawaii basketball, whatever that means. And it wasn’t tonight."

Hawaii will put several winning streaks on the line Saturday against Cal Poly (11-9, 6-2), the last Big West team to win in Honolulu. The Wahine have won six straight this season and 11 consecutive conference games dating back to last year’s 78-74 loss to the Mustangs.

"We are excited about Saturday but we knew we had to stay focused for tonight," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. "We didn’t play our best, we know that, but as ugly as we played, we still scored 60 and held (UCSB) below their average (48.6 ppg).

"Some of it was me, I was running some funky lineups out there. But we scored 22 points off turnovers and shot well from the line again. Playoff teams do not only get to the line but they score when they get there."

Hawaii finished 18-for-24 from the line, with King going 9-for-10 for the second consecutive game. Conversely, the Gauchos were 4 of 8.

The Wahine again dominated the boards with a 40-25 edge, led by King’s nine.

Senior guard Ashleigh Karaitiana added 13 points, seven coming in the final 4:35 of the first half to help Hawaii break away from a 23-23 tie to a 30-23 lead at intermission. Karataiana ended the Wahine’s 3-point shooting drought, draining a trey from the right baseline with 91 seconds to go, UH’s first from behind the arc in six attempts.

Hawaii didn’t hit a field goal during a five-minute stretch late in the second but still managed to expand the margin to 56-35, thanks to free throws. Senior forward Shawlina Segovia hit both of her attempts and senior guard Morgan Mason three of her four to give the Wahine their largest lead with 4:25 to go.

UCSB was led by sophomore guard Onome Jemerigbe’s 13 points.

"We know we have to play better Saturday," added Kuehu, who did not play in the 70-65 road loss at Cal Poly that opened conference play. "We know we have a lot of things to work on.

"I think we’ve won just once in my career here against them. I want it more than anything."

Thursday

Hawaii 60, UC Santa Barbara 43

Long Beach State 62, UC Irvine 46

UC Riverside 77, Cal State Fullerton 69

UC Davis 73, CSUN 67

Saturday

Cal Poly at Hawaii, 5 p.m.

UC Irvine at UC Davis

Cal State Fullerton at CSUN

Long Beach State at UC Riverside

HAWAII 60, UC SANTA BARBARA 43

Halftime — Hawaii 30, UC Santa Barbara 23

3-point goals — UCSB 1-2 (Jemerigbe 1-1, Roper 0-1). Hawaii 2-9 (Karaitiana 2-7, Harris 0-1, Segovia 0-1). Steals — UCSB

Hawaii 5 (King 3, Kuehu, Mason). Turnovers — UCSB 16 (Morrison 3, Callahan 2, Jemerigbe 2, Ware 2, Watkins 2, TEAM 2, Farris, Lopez, Maragnes). Hawaii 13 (Sampton 3, Harris 2, Mason 2, Huff, Karaitiana, King, Morris, Segovia, Wimbley).

Assists — UCSB 8 (Farris 2, Brance, Callahan, Lopez, Roper, Ware, Watkins). Hawaii 9 (Karaitiana 2, King 2, Segovia 2, Harris, Kuehu, Mason). Blocked shots — UCSB 7 (Watkins 3, Farris 2, Maragnes 2). Hawaii 4 (Huff, Karaitiana, Kuehu, Segovia). Technical fouls — UCSB none. Hawaii none.  Officials — Charles Gonzalez, Jack Jones, Etha Kahoano. A — NA.