After defeating the University of California, Irvine on Jan. 4, The University of California, Riverside (UCR) women’s basketball team only had a short time to celebrate their 59-54 win against the reigning Big West champions. With a road test against perennial contenders Hawaii on deck, the Highlanders would need back-to-back strong performances to beat the Rainbow Wahine.

Despite winning two of the last three Big West Championships, the Rainbow Wahine haven’t started this campaign as many would have imagined. Hawaii uncharacteristically dropped their first two games of the season and saw former All-Big West first team guard Daejah Phillips leave the team indefinitely just before Thursday’s contest against UCR.

Courtesy of UCR Athletics

Prior to tip-off, the Rainbow Wahine would receive even more bad news. Due to a malfunction with the shot clock, the Highlanders started the game with a 1-0 lead. However, Hawaii seemed unfazed by all the drama surrounding them as senior guard Meilani McBee drained a deep triple on the opening possession. 

UCR’s junior guard Shelley Duchemin responded with a three-pointer of her own as each team seemed more concerned with playing ball rather than worrying about a buggy shot clock. The Highlanders especially, from the start, looked to play aggressively.

Courtesy Adam Oshon Arun

On offense, UCR kept looking to shoot the ball from behind the arc. Junior guard Makayla Rose followed up Duchemin’s effort with a corner triple of her own. Later in the quarter, freshman guard Hannah Wickstrom joined the fun with another three for the Highlanders.

On defense, the Highlanders weren’t afraid to press the Rainbow Wahine from the get-go. With Preseason All-Big West senior guard Lily Wahinekapu running the offense for Hawaii, UCR needed to give her as much trouble as they could. The Highlanders held Wahinekapu to zero points in the first quarter, but the star guard found her groove to start the second.

Wahinekapu first displayed her playmaking prowess. First, she worked a nice give-and-go with Ritorya Tamilo to get the freshman center an easy layup. Next, she hit a no-look pass to sophomore guard Jade Peacock to tie the game at 15 apiece.

Then on a nice inbound play, Wahinekapu found herself wide open in the corner and drilled the ensuing three-pointer. The Rainbow Wahine had scored eight unanswered points as UCR head coach Brad Langston burned his first timeout of the game.

However, the break in play wouldn’t slow down Wahinekapu. She kept finding teammates for open looks and easy buckets. The Highlanders weren’t able to match Hawaii offensively and fell behind 32-23 going into the second half.

While the Rainbow Wahine were relying on the three ball in the second quarter, they looked to score inside more. Hawaii were able to draw fouls aplenty as the Highlanders struggled against the physical nature of the Rainbow Wahine. By the fourth quarter, UCR were down by 16 points.

With the starters off their A game, Langston gave more minutes to players like freshman guard Kaylani Polk. She made the most out of her opportunity and injected some life into the Highlanders with a trio of three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Nevertheless, the Rainbow Wahine would take this one 61-47. Hawaii earned a much-needed victory while the Highlanders dropped to 3-2 in the Big West. UCR will look to bounce back at home against the University of California, Santa Barbara on Jan. 16.

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