The Hawaii women’s basketball team needs a little time to figure out its new identity. In the meantime, a Big West winning streak will suffice.

UH, playing its second straight game without indefinitely inactive All-BWC guard Daejah Phillips, leaned into its defense to defeat last-place Cal State Fullerton 54-44 on Saturday night and win its third straight conference game after an 0-2 start.

The Rainbow Wahine (9-6, 3-2 Big West) held the Titans (2-14, 0-6) to 19 points through three quarters. Coach Laura Beeman was not happy with the finishing push, though, as CSUF scored 25 points in the final frame and was not put away until the final seconds.

“We had to grind it out. We still have not found our footing with just the difference in lineups, injured players,” Beeman told Spectrum Sports’ Jordan Helle. “We gotta close things out way better that. We’re really inconsistent right now. I’ll take the win, but we’ve got to clean some things up.”

The dynamic Phillips, UH's second-leading scorer, is “not an active member of the team for an indefinite period due to personal reasons," UH announced before Thursday's game against UC Riverside. With that as the new reality, forward Imani Perez picked a good time to have her highest output in points, with 14 on as many attempts, while wing MeiLani McBee added 10. Guard Jovi Lefotu came off the bench to record eight points and five of her team’s eight assists.

“We’ve needed this aggressiveness from Imani,” Beeman said. “It was nice that she showed up and did it tonight on both sides of the ball. … She’s kind of that difference-maker for us.”

CSUF, led by Hawaii native Jeff Harada, lost its 11th straight game in the series. The Titans have not beat UH in Honolulu since 1995.

UH prepares to head out to face two more struggling teams, Cal State Northridge (3-12, 1-5) at 4 p.m. Hawaii time Thursday and Cal State Bakersfield (1-15, 1-5) at noon Saturday.

Beeman said she was hopeful to get senior guard Kelsie Imai back from a six-game injury absence prior to the trip.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.