The University of Hawai’i women’s basketball team will begin its next-to-last homestand of the regular season with a game against Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, February 12 at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Rainbow Wahine are looking to regain momentum after a recent loss to UC San Diego ended their six-game winning streak. They are currently in sixth place in the Big West standings and have an overall record of 12-10, with a 6-6 mark in conference play.
Head coach Laura Beeman, now in her 14th season at Hawai’i, has led the team to a 234-179 record. Freshman guard Bailey Flavell continues to be a key contributor, averaging 13.8 points per game and leading the team in scoring for 13 games this season. She is on track to become the first freshman since the 2010-11 season to lead Hawai’i in scoring average.
Freshman guard Keiara Curtis has also made an impact, reaching double figures in scoring in 10 of the last 12 games and averaging 11.1 points per game during Big West competition. Senior forward Imani Perez anchors the defense, ranking first in the conference and 31st nationally with an average of 1.81 blocked shots per game. She is second in total blocks within the conference this season and has recorded at least one block in most games played.
As a team, Hawai’i leads the Big West and ranks seventh nationally with six blocks per game—a pace that surpasses their previous program record set during the 2004-05 season. Senior forward Saniyah Neverson is contributing an average of ten points per contest while maintaining a field-goal percentage of nearly 54% during conference play, which places her second among Big West players.
Defensively, Hawai’i holds opponents to just over 36% shooting from the field, ranking them second in their conference and among the top teams nationally for field-goal percentage defense.
Thursday’s matchup marks the twenty-first meeting between Hawai’i and Cal State Bakersfield since their series began in November 2009. Hawai’i holds a commanding lead with fifteen wins compared to five for Bakersfield and has won each of their last twelve meetings—including all seven matchups held in Honolulu.
In their most recent encounter on January 22 this year, Bailey Flavell posted her first career double-double with twenty-two points and ten rebounds as Hawai’i secured a win at Bakersfield’s Icardo Center. Keiara Curtis contributed thirteen points while Maria Dias led Bakersfield with thirteen points.
Ari Wideman serves as head coach for Cal State Bakersfield (7-16 overall; 2-11 Big West), now in her second year leading the Roadrunners program following her playing career at Nevada from 2010 through 2014. Sophomore guard Crishawn Coleman leads CSUB offensively with nearly seventeen points per game—fifth best among all players within the conference—and tops all players with free throw attempts this season. Tena Ikidi ranks fourth for rebounds among Big West competitors while Morgan Hawkins—a former player at Hawai’i Pacific University—has started twenty-one games this year for CSUB.
The Rainbow Wahine will complete their homestand against CSUN on Saturday before resuming travel later this month.
