Rainbow Wahine defeat Cal State Fullerton in Big West quarterfinals

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The No. 4 seed University of Hawaii women’s basketball team opened up the 2020 Big West Tournament with an impressive 72-59 quarterfinal win over No. 6 seed Cal State Fullerton Wednesday night at the Walter Pyramid.

With the win the Rainbow Wahine (16-14) advanced to the tournament semifinals where they will face No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara on Friday at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

UH took care of the Titans (17-14) with a balanced offense and smothering defense. Nine different players got in the scoring column led by Julissa Tago who notched her fifth straight game in double-digits with 15 points. Nae Nae Calhoun added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Savannah Reier finished with a career high five assists

Defensively, the Rainbow Wahine did a number on reigning Big West Player of the Year Raina Perez. Perez, who torched UH for 34 points earlier in the season, was held to just 10 points on 4-of-20- shooting, while also committing five turnovers. More than half her points game in the last five minutes of the game with Hawaii comfortably ahead. As a team, the Titans shot just 36 percent for the game.

The Rainbow Wahine got off to a solid start taking an 18-7 lead after the first quarter on the strength of a 12-1 run. UH extended the lead even further at half with a 33-20 edge. The Bows held the Titans to just 25 percent shooting (7-of-28) in the first half, while committing just three turnovers on offense.

Hawaii continued to ramp it up in the second half, building its lead to as many as 21 points midway through the third quarter. The Titans wouldn’t get any closer than 10 points thereafter. UH shot 47 percent for, while the UH bench contributed 30 points by game’s end.

Hawaii will now look to avenge a buzzer-beating loss to the Gauchos just a week ago in Honolulu. It will be UH’s fifth semifinal appearance in the last seven years.