Despite going into an eighth year at Hawaii, Laura Beeman can still experience some firsts.

Getting T’d up in a preseason exhibition being one of them.

The Rainbow Wahine coach was assessed a whistle with 38.9 seconds left while making a point on a separate call in a testy 76-71 victory over Hawaii Pacific.

“That’s my second technical in 25 years, and I didn’t swear,” Beeman said. “All I’ll say is, this game was maybe a little bit over the heads of some of those officials. But I have said much more intense comments to much more seasoned officials, and they have just been like, ‘Gotcha, Coach’ and they move on.”

UH moves on to the official season at home Tuesday against San Diego State.

>> Photo Gallery: Women’s basketball: UH vs. HPU

It pulled out the tune-up win against its Division II neighbor by virtue of getting to the free-throw line 38 times and sinking 32 (84.2%).

Senior guard Julissa Tago scored a game-high 23 points on 6-for-15 shooting (4-for-10 on 3s). Junior forward Amy Atwell added 13 points, guard Jadynn Alexander put in 11 and center Lauren Rewers had 10 and eight rebounds.

“We got a lot of stuff to work on,” Atwell said. “Leaving it as we did last year (a loss to UC Davis in the Big West championship game) just gives us all the more motivation.”

HPU hung around even after trailing by as many as 15. That included the last few minutes, with the Sharks sinking their foul shots to make things interesting. Reid Takatsuka’s Sharks, who went 23-9 last year and made the NCAAs, hit three straight 3s before halftime to get within 30-28 at intermission, though they never led.

Alysha Marcucci led the Sharks with 18 points, while Roosevelt High alumna Starr Rivera scored 11 of her 16 points after halftime.

“They outplayed us as far as effort tonight. They acted like a team that knew what was at stake,” Beeman said.

Beeman started freshman Nae Nae Calhoun at point guard. She was shaky at the start but settled down to finish with nine points on 4-for-8 shooting, two assists and four turnovers.

“She definitely doesn’t play like a freshman,” Tago said. “Her mentality is older than what she is. But there were times where she played a little bit fast, but she’s good at telling her one thing and she’ll apply it the next play.”