The University of Hawaii women’s basketball team paid the price against American on Saturday, thanks in large part to a huge deficit at the free-throw line.
American made 36 of 40 from the line to beat Hawaii 69-57 in the Rainbow Wahine Shootout at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Makenna Woodfolk finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Leah Salanoa added 12 points for the Rainbow Wahine (1-5).
Elina Koskimies scored 23 points, including 13 of 14 from the free-throw line, and Katie Marenyi added 16 points for the Eagles (3-1).
Hawaii, which was coming off its lone win of the season, was 9-for-16 from the free-throw line and committed 18 turnovers.
“We know what the problems are,” Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said in a TV interview. “It is our jobs as coaches to figure out how to make those changes in practice. It’s fouling, putting people at the free-throw line and turning the ball over. We have to figure out how to fix that at practice, so that we don’t continue to beat ourselves.”
The Rainbow Wahine were 21-for-45 from the field, while the Eagles were just 14-for-48.
There were six ties and seven lead changes in the first half.
The Rainbow Wahine were 6-for-11 from the field, but had eight turnovers in the first quarter. They shot 11-for-22 in the first half.
Courtney Middap scored eight points and Woodfolk added seven for Hawaii, which trailed 32-28 at intermission.
Hawaii will play Florida Gulf Coast today at 2:30 p.m. and No. 8 Stanford on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
“Two very, very good teams. We’re going to show up and either execute or we’re not. We’re not going to be able to fix anything overnight,” Beeman said.
