Hawaii’s victory over New Mexico State wasn’t always pretty.
But perhaps that was the beauty of the Rainbow Wahine basketball team’s performance on Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Despite some ragged moments and an early injury to starting forward Lahni Salanoa, the Wahine pushed through the adversity to emerge with a 56-53 win in the finale of the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic.
“This game showed us as a coaching staff and (the players), there’s something very special about this group,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “As the game became more difficult these guys raised their level of intensity and their desire to win and that’s incredibly impressive.”
UH freshman Makenna Woodfolk scored nine of her 11 points in a see-saw fourth quarter and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team as the Wahine evened their overall record at 2-2.
Senior guard Briana Harris added 12 points and six rebounds on her way to tournament MVP honors. Sophomore guard Leah Salanoa led UH with 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including three 3-pointers, after seeing her twin sister have to be helped off the floor less than two minutes into the game.
“It was definitely tough, especially Lahni being one of our key players this year,” Leah said. “But we had to step up and we did.”
Lahni Salanoa, who was coming off a double-double performance in Friday’s win over Youngstown State, spent the second half on the bench with a her foot encased in a protective boot.
“We’ll wait and see what the evaluation is,” Beeman said. “(It’s) significant enough to put her in a boot and crutches, but let’s hope it’s precautionary and that the healing fairy comes quickly.”
UH was already thin in the post but Woodfolk and fellow freshman Keleah-Aiko Koloi held their ground to help the Wahine build a 40-31 rebounding advantage. Koloi was held scoreless but finished with seven rebounds.
“That’s my job on the court, to rebound,” Woodfolk said. “The shots came, but I really focused on rebounding.”
UH committed 10 of its 24 turnovers in the first quarter, but the Wahine zone contributed to NMSU shooting 10-for-40 from the field through the first three periods before both teams picked up the scoring in the fourth.
“We’re a long team so I think us just being very active in the zone helped,” Woodfolk said.
With UH up 39-37 in early in the final period, Woodfolk got her first field goal to drop when Julissa Tago fed her inside after grabbing an offensive rebound. Woodfolk then drained a baseline jumper on UH’s next possession to give the Wahine their biggest lead of the game.
NMSU answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead, which changed hands three more times over the next 95 seconds.
Harris broke a 52-52 tie with two free throws with 1:24 left and Woodfolk came down with a rebound when Brooke Salas’ shot to tie bounced off the rim with nine seconds left. Woodfolk was fouled and hit both free throws and UH held on to sweep the weekend.
Tamera Williams led NMSU (2-2) with 11 points and UH held the Aggies, the defending Western Athletic Conference champions, more than 15 points below their season average.
UH continues its homestand by hosting the Rainbow Wahine Shootout starting Friday. The Wahine will face San Jose State, Oregon and No. 10 Mississippi State in the three-day tournament.
