Lexus Green scored 19 points, including two crucial 3-point bombs in the final two minutes, as Cal State Bakersfield escaped with a 64-57 victory over Hawaii on Friday night.
It was the Roadrunners’ first Big West victory in their initial season in the league.
The Rainbow Wahine were playing their first Division I opponent this season following two cancellations because of coronavirus-related circumstances involving their program and Cal Poly’s team. The 26-day gap between games included a 10-day quarantine for several team members. The Wahine had four practices leading to Friday’s game.
But the Wahine produced a gritty comeback, whittling a 20-point, first-half deficit to 54-50 late in the fourth quarter.
The Roadrunners added a free throw while the Wahine struggled to complete offensive sets. Then with 1:54 left and the shot clock down to two seconds, Green heaved a 3 from the top of the key.
“That 3 really hurt us with two seconds on the clock,” UH coach Laura Beeman said in a telephone interview. “We had a couple bad possessions when we had it within four, and we didn’t get a good shot off, and we turned the ball over.”
Green then hit the proverbial dagger, a 3 from the right corner, to boost the Roadrunners’ lead to 61-52 with 1:08 left.
“I’m super proud of the girls for coming from down 18 or 20,” Beeman said. “It shows a heck of a fight. It shows we’ve got something to us. They could have quit, and everybody would have been, ‘oh, quarantine and blah, blah, blah.’ We didn’t. For our first Division I game in the middle of January against a team that’s played six or seven games, I’m OK with what we did tonight.”
But Beeman said the Wahine need to avoid transition lapses in today’s rematch. The Roadrunners scored 26 points off Wahine turnovers, and produced 11 second-chance points.
“We knew we were going to turn the ball over a little bit because of a freshman point guard and a freshman backup point guard,” Beeman said. “We knew we had inexperience at some spots. If we’re going to turn the ball over, we have to get back and not allow them to score 26 points.”
Center Vanessa Austin added 10 points and six rebounds for Bakersfield (3-4, 1-2 Big West).
, which won at home for the first time in four tries. After opening the season with a 60-52 win at Cal, the Roadrunners lost four of their last five games.
Jadynn Alexander scored 12 points, including 3-for-5 from behind the arc, to lead Hawaii. Freshman Daejah Phillips added 11 points and a team-high five boards.
Hawaii (1-2, 0-1) played its first game since Dec. 20, a 71-54 win over Hawaii-Hilo. Conference games at Cal Poly (Dec. 27-28) were canceled as were home games vs. UC Riverside (Jan. 8-9).
