Hawai‘i Welcomes in Long Beach State and CSU Bakersfield

HONOLULU– The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team enters the eighth week of the Big West schedule on a three-game win streak as Long Beach State and CSU Bakersfield come to the island of O’ahu for a two-game set. The Rainbow Wahine will battle with The Beach on Saturday at 7 p.m. HT, followed by the Roadrunners on Monday for a 2 p.m. matinee. 

GM 24 & 25 | HAWAI’I (11-12, 9-5) VS. LONG BEACH STATE (17-7, 12-2) | HAWAI’I (11-12, 9-5) VS. CSU BAKERSFIELD (6-16, 3-11)
Date | Time				Saturday, February 18th, 2023, 7:00 p.m. HT | Monday, February 20th, 2023. 2:00 p.m. HT
Location				Honolulu, Oahu – SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Television				Spectrum Sports (Saturday Only)
Live Stream				Saturday | Monday
Radio				Saturday | Monday
Tickets				Saturday | Monday
Live Stats				Saturday | Monday
Game Notes				Hawai’i | Long Beach State | CSU Bakersfield
Social Media				@HawaiiWBB | #HawaiiWBB | @hawaiiwbb | Facebook
Promotions				Coca-Cola is the sponsor of Saturday’s “Pride Night” game and will be sampling their new line of Coke products prior to the game at Gate A, and award a 30″ Polar Bear to the winner of the “Lucky Seat” promotion. Monday is “Trivia Night” and fans are encouraged to visit the sports marketing table (located near Gate A) to register to participate in the halftime trivia contest for the chance to win great prizes. Adult tickets are $7, Seniors (ages 65+) are $5, and youth (ages 4 – high school) are free.

NEWS & NOTES

• The Rainbow Wahine have recently picked up wins over Cal Poly, UC San Diego, and Cal State Fullerton, while sophomore guard Lily Wahinekapu has scored 10 points or more in her last nine games.
• Over 14 Big West games, UH has accumulated a 9-5 record to position them at No. 4 in the standings behind Long Beach State, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara. The ‘Bows are 0-3 against the top three and will play each of them one more time before the conference tournament.
• UH has recorded two weeks of conference game sweeps, the first coming against UC Davis and Cal Poly in the opening week of the conference in late December. The other came a week ago against UCSD and CSF. Both sweeps have been on the road, and UH is 6-2 on the road against conference opponents.
• LBSU ended a four-game losing streak to UH on January 14^th with a 62-48 victory. Since then, The Beach has gone on a run of 10 straight victories, and by the time we get to Saturday, it may be 11 as they take on UC Riverside this Wednesday.
• The ‘Bows’ victory at CSUB on January 28^th wasn’t exactly pretty, but the ‘Bows completed their second-half comeback at the Icardo Center for a 51-47 win after shooting 33{6932ee47e64f4ce8eedbbd5224581f6531cba18a35225771c06e4f1b3f0d9667} and committing 19 turnovers. Dating back to last season, UH has beaten the Roadrunners four straight times.

LAURA BEEMAN = PAUL ELLERING
Road life is a part of the college experience, and it can be tough to win on the road. Before the 2021-22 season, women’s basketball didn’t have a winning record on the road since 2015-16, and last season they were one game above .500 at 6-5. So far this season, the road has provided UH with some positive outcomes, with a 7-4 record compared to 4-8 at home. The aforementioned 2015-16 season was the last time UH had a better record on the road than at home. Away from the islands, UH was 10-4, and at home, they were 9-5. The key to success has been stability and healthy traveling habits, an emphasis stressed by head coach Laura Beeman.
 
FINDING TIME FOR REST
November is a crucial month for the ‘Bows as they typically host back-to-back tournaments in back-to-back weeks, including this season when they played five games over nine days. These tournaments are always challenging because they push players to test themselves and their recovery while allowing others to play and stand out as contributors. The more difficult part is the stretch in conference play, as UH played four games in seven days from January 14^th to the 21^st. In both instances of multiple games in short stretches, the ‘Bows went 1-4 and 2-2. A similar stretch is about to happen again as UH is about to play LBSU, CSUB, UC Riverside, and UC Irvine over another seven-day period from February 18^th-25^th.
 
SPARKLE, SPARKLE
As a team, UH sits in the middle of the pack of the Big West when it comes to rebounding at 34.2 per game for fifth overall. The battle of the boards is beneficial to the ‘Bows as they’re 10-3 when collecting more or the same as their opponents in a game compared to 1-9 when they lose on the glass. Graduate senior Kallin Spiller has been the biggest contributor as she leads the team by a wide margin of 170 boards this season to Wahinekapu with 81, and Spiller ranks second in the conference to Ila Lane of UC Santa Barbara with 202.
 
SPREAD THE LOVE
In the ‘Bows 80-58 victory against Cal Poly, they showcased the ability to spread the wealth. Five players recorded double-digit points in the game while UH tallied a season-high 22 assists, matching their output from Jan. 7th against Cal State Fullerton. The high distribution rate continued into their next game as UH dished out 18 assists in their 16-point comeback victory over UCSD on Feb. 9. Over the past two seasons, UH is 7-3 when they record 15 or more assists in a game.

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