In a visit outside its usual comfort zone for a preseason exhibition, the Hawaii women’s basketball team wanted to try a little bit of everything on Sunday.
Big lineups, small lineups. Pressing lineups. Zone lineups, man-to-man lineups. Veteran lineups, newcomer lineups.
“We’re going to tinker for a while,” coach Laura Beeman said.
The Rainbow Wahine did all of that, and it turned out they felt right at home at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo, too.
Thirteen Rainbow Wahine players saw action and 10 scored field goals as UH put together a 69-50 win over Division II sibling Hawaii Hilo on Sunday afternoon.
“That’s what exhibition games are about, right?” Beeman told Spectrum News in a phone interview from Hawaii Island. “It’s to try some different things, try some different chemistry, lineups obviously. Kind of see where we are doing well, where we need to make some adjustments in practice. I think we accomplished all of that today. Saw some real bright spots and saw some areas that really need to continue to work on.”
UH, the preseason Big West favorite with 10 returnees from its regular-season title team in 2023-24, agreed to flip the site of the annual preseason game with David Kaneshiro’s Vulcans.
The UH men visited Hilo too, a 64-61 game Friday night that the Rainbow Warriors had to sweat out for multiple reasons in the humid arena.
The Wahine encountered no such drama. After a tight first quarter, they dominated the second 21-2. When the Vulcans pulled within 11 to start the fourth quarter, the Wahine responded by pulling away for good.
The UH posts gave a strong effort. Center Brooklyn Rewers scored 13 points in 12 minutes while freshman Ritorya Tamilo went 4-for-4 for 11 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and four turnovers in 15 minutes. Forward Imani Perez grabbed nine rebounds.
Wahinekapu started in the backcourt alongside Imai. Daejah Phillips and MeiLani McBee were on the wings with Rewers at center.
Beeman said that with such a deep team, the practice competition has been fierce.
“When you’re on the court, you have to really make the most of your minutes, because someone else is ready to gobble those minutes up,” she said.
Kaile Cruz, a 5-foot-2 guard from Milpitas, Calif., led Hilo with 14 points.
It was the Wahine program’s first visit to the Big Island since a tournament in Hilo in 2010. For fifth-year senior Kelsie Imai, it was a joyous homecoming. The Pahoa native scored eight points with three assists, no turnovers, a block and two steals in 22 minutes.
Sisters Lily Wahinekapu (11 points, three assists) and Jovi Lefotu (six points, three rebounds) also had family on the island. For Lefotu, it was some of her first game action after redshirting last season while recovering from a knee injury.
Others to attend included former Wahine great Shawna Kuehu and the family of former UH center Pua Kailiawa, a Big Island native.
“It was amazing,” Beeman said. “It makes us want to do these exhibition games on Neighbor Islands more often, because the people that cannot come to Oahu, they were so gracious, appreciate it so much, us coming over and spending time and being able to watch these kids and meet these kids in person. I think it was an amazing event, amazing experience.”
The Wahine were to return home before heading to Maui for an exhibition doubleheader along with the UH men against Chaminade’s men’s and women’s teams at 2 and 5 p.m. at Kamehameha-Maui in Pukalani on Saturday.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.