The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team will host Cal Poly at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday, January 15, marking the start of a two-game Big West homestand. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Hawai’i enters the matchup with a 6-9 overall record and remains winless in conference play (0-5) after a close road loss to UC Irvine on January 10. Following Thursday’s contest, the Rainbow Wahine will face UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Freshman guard Bailey Flavell leads Hawai’i with an average of 13.4 points per game and has reached double figures in scoring for twelve games this season, including the last five consecutively. She also tops the team in three-pointers made with 22. Guard Keiara Curtis recently set her season high with 17 points against UC Riverside on January 1 and has scored in double digits in each of the last five games.
Senior forward Imani Perez is second in the Big West and ranks twenty-seventh nationally with an average of 1.93 blocked shots per game. She became just the eighth player in program history to surpass one hundred career blocks during Hawai’i’s previous homestand and currently leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game.
As a team, Hawai’i leads the Big West Conference and is ranked eighth nationally by averaging 6.2 blocks per game, which exceeds its previous program record set during the 2004-05 season.
True freshmen have played a significant role for Hawai’i this year, contributing nearly half of the team’s total points.
This season is also notable as it marks Hawai’i’s final campaign in the Big West before moving to the Mountain West Conference beginning with the 2026-27 season.
In recent years, Hawai’i has performed strongly at home within conference play, winning nineteen out of their last twenty-two Big West home games over three seasons.
The upcoming matchup will be the thirty-first meeting between Hawai’i and Cal Poly since their series began in February 1978. Hawai’i holds a 19-11 advantage overall and has won eight consecutive meetings against Cal Poly, including their most recent encounter—a 67-43 victory on February 6, 2025, in Honolulu. At home, Hawai’i is nine wins to four losses against Cal Poly and has not lost to them at home since March 2018.
Cal Poly enters Thursday’s game with a record of three wins and thirteen losses (1-5 Big West). The Mustangs are led by head coach Shanele Stires, who is now in her fourth season with a cumulative record of forty-four wins and sixty-three losses. Guard Vanessa McManus stands out for Cal Poly as she ranks third among all players in the conference by averaging nineteen points per game this season; she has surpassed thirty points twice so far.
Several staff members have ties across both programs: Cal Poly assistant coach Samba Johnson graduated from Chaminade University of Honolulu while UH graduate assistant Dyesha Stahley previously played for Cal Poly from 2015 through 2019—she finished her career sixth all-time for assists at that school.
Fans can watch Thursday’s game live on Spectrum Sports or listen via CBS Radio AM1500; live statistics are available online through HawaiiAthletics.com while tickets can be purchased at etickethawaii.com.
