It was fitting that the biggest postseason award bestowed upon the Hawaii women’s basketball team involved sharing the ball, not shooting it.
Point guard Tia Kanoa, who will depart the Rainbow Wahine as their career leader in assist average, was named to the All-Big West second team on Monday.
The Kamehameha graduate has paced the Rainbow Wahine with 4.9 assists per game this season and added 6.9 points per game, helping UH (14-15, 10-6 Big West) rise to the No. 2 seed in the Big West tournament with two crucial road wins last week.
Kanoa set a no-nonsense tone on the court, first in practices and later in games, soon after transferring home from Arizona State in 2016. Underscoring the 5-foot-8 player’s bulldog mentality, she grabbed 3.8 rebounds per game and was third on the team in offensive boards this season.
“I feel blessed for the opportunity to represent Hawaii,” Kanoa said in a message from Los Angeles. “I’m beyond grateful for my teammates and my coaches. They pushed me and supported me from the start of offseason workouts, and throughout our entire journey together this season.”
Junior guard Courtney Middap (8.5 points per game) and senior forward Leah Salanoa (8.7) were named All-BWC honorable mentions. They have 40 3-pointers apiece this season.
After the departure of forward Makenna Woodfolk from the program with five games left in the regular season, UH no longer had a player among the Big West’s top 25 scorers.
Post Myrrah Joseph picked up some of the slack and was named to the six-player all-freshman team.
“Incredibly proud of Tia, Leah, Courtney and Myrrah,” UH coach Laura Beeman messaged. “They have all worked hard for the recognition from the BWC. More importantly they recognize the impact of their teammates in these accomplishments. Team first … always.”
UC Davis’ Morgan Bertsch was named Big West player of the year, while Jennifer Gross of the regular-season champion Aggies was named coach of the year.
Other first-teamers were Cal State Northridge center Channon Fluker (a four-time selection); forward Daeja Smith of Cal State Fullerton; guard Kourtney Eaton of UC Davis; forward Jordan Sanders of UC Irvine; and guard Jannon Otto of UC Riverside.
CSUN guard Serafina Maulupe, Long Beach State forward Naomi Hunt, Riverside forward Marina Ewodo and UC Santa Barbara guard Coco Miller joined Kanoa on the second team.
UH will play a team to be determined at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the Big West semifinals at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.