Another defensive gem plus a career game from forward Imani Perez proved enough for Hawaii against UC Irvine in a battle of early Big West Conference women’s basketball contenders in Irvine, Calif., on Thursday night.
Perez, UH’s 6-foot-4 sophomore from Denver, scored a personal-best 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting with nine rebounds and two blocks, and the Rainbow Wahine topped the Anteaters 56-49 at the Bren Events Center.
UH (7-6 overall) has held all four conference opponents it has seen to under 50 points as it attained its first 4-0 league start since the 1997-98 season in the Western Athletic Conference.
“I’ll take that. If we can continue to hold teams under 50, then I think we’ve got a really good chance to win ballgames because I know we can put up some points,” coach Laura Beeman told Spectrum News in a postgame phone interview. “So, if that’s a streak, I’m happy about that.”
The Wahine own a nine-game winning streak against Big West opponents dating to last season and are the only unblemished team as they head to UC Riverside (7-8, 2-3) for a 4 p.m. Hawaii time contest at SRC Arena on Saturday.
With a victory, UCI (9-6, 3-2) could’ve supplanted UH for first at the quarter pole of the 20-game BWC schedule but instead lost at the Bren for the first time in five games this season. The Anteaters’ pressure-based defense contributed to a 14-9 lead for the hosts after a quarter; they forced 12 turnovers against the Wahine in the first half, but UH halved that in the second.
“We just had to get used to the pressure they were applying on guards, make some adjustments in what we were running with our spacing and timing on some things,” Beeman said.
Beeman called Perez “a beast” after her flawless shooting night that included a 3-for-3 effort on 3-pointers.
“She was the person we were relying on to break the press,” Beeman said. “Big target, very composed with the ball. Unbelievable passes. I thought this was her best game in college, actually.”
The Wahine led 20-18 at halftime and began the third quarter with a Perez triple to launch a 9-2 run.
MeiLani McBee had three 3s among her 12 points to surpass Nani Cockett for fifth on the all-time Wahine triples list with 129. Point guard Lily Wahinekapu added 10 points, four assists and five rebounds.
After UCI drew within two points in the third, McBee’s four-point play helped UH regain separation.
Deja Lee led UCI with 15 points, nine rebounds and five steals. The ‘Eaters had 14 thefts as a team.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.