LAS VEGAS – The University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team opened the 2021 Air Force Reserve Big West Championships in impressive fashion with an 81-67 quarterfinal win over CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday afternoon at Michelob Ultra Arena.
With the win, the fifth-seeded Rainbow Wahine advance to the tournament semifinals where they will face regular-season champion and top-seed UC Davis. The teams, which split a pair of game in Honolulu less than a week ago, will face off on Friday at 10 a.m. HT.
UH totally flipped the script against the No. 4 seed Roadrunners. CSUB swept the regular-season series and held UH to a season-low 43 points in the last meeting on Jan. 16. The Rainbow Wahine had 39 points at the half in this match-up en route to a season-high 81 points.
UH used a 17-3 run bridging the first and second halves to take a double-digit lead and held off every attempt by CSUB to re-take the lead. UH (9-7), winners of four of its last five games, now finds itself in the Big West semifinals for the third consecutive season.
UH sported a balanced attack with four different players scoring in double-digits, led by Jaydynn Alexander’s season-high 17 points. Deajah Phillips posted 15 points and nine rebounds, while fellow freshmen Olivia Davies and Kelsie Imai added 16 and 10 points, respectively.
In a high-scoring first-half, the Rainbow Wahine went into the locker room with a 39-36 lead. UH withstood an early barrage of three-pointers by the Runners who made their first four attempts and five of their first six. UH got to the free-throw line, dominated the glass and used an 8-1 run to end the half to take a three-point advantage.
UH remained hot and opened the second half with a 9-2 run. CSUB would get within four points, 58-54,less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, but UH slammed the door with a 13-4 run, punctuated by back-to-back three-pointers Kasey Neubert and Alexander.
UH got the job done at the free throw line (27-of-35) and ended the game with a 48-32 advantage on the glass. UH improved to a perfect 6-1 this year when leading at half.
The ‘Bows will now have another crack at UC Davis. UH handed the Aggies their only Big West loss this season, before falling in the regular-season finale the next day.