HONOLULU — Lili Thompson enjoyed quite the happy homecoming Saturday.
HONOLULU — Lili Thompson enjoyed quite the happy homecoming Saturday.
Thompson scored 26 points and Amber Orrange added 19 as No. 5 Stanford beat Hawaii 86-73 during the second day of the Rainbow Wahine Shootout.
Erica McCall added 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Kaylee Johnson chipped in 10 points and eight boards for the Cardinal (4-2), who shot a blistering 57 percent from the field and 67 percent on 3-pointers.
“I will take that any day of the week,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said of her team’s hot shooting. “Sometimes you’re gonna hit and sometimes you’re not. We did shoot the ball really well, I’m really excited about that. Amber and Lili led the way with really good guard play.”
Thompson, a sophomore guard who spent part of her childhood in Hawaii, made 8 of her 14 shots from the field, including 6 of 7 from behind the arc. She also made all four of her free throws.
“My teammates just kept finding me and luckily I could knock it down,” Thompson said.
Stanford, which led by as many as 16 points early in the second half, rebounded from a 16-point loss to No. 11 North Carolina on Friday.
The Rainbow Wahine (4-2) had four scorers in double figures, led by Shawlina Segovia’s 17 points.
Hawaii, which scored on seven of its first eight possessions, led by as many as eight early in the first half, but cooled off considerably once senior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu left with her second foul at the 9:19 mark.
Stanford, which trailed for the entirety of Friday’s loss to North Carolina, took its first lead of the game at 23-22 seconds after Kuehu left on a free throw by Orrange.
Orrange shot 7 of 13 from the field and also had eight assists.
“I think we came out and played with a lot more energy, a lot more pace, and we were patient on offense and allowed the posts to get more involved,” Orrange said.
The Rainbow Wahine reclaimed the lead briefly on a pair of Morgan Mason free throws, but Orrange hit a 15-footer to ignite a 20-4 run late in the first half.
Stanford held a 48-34 lead at halftime.
Kuehu returned to start the second half, but left shortly thereafter with an apparent left knee injury. She finished with just four points in a season-low 11 minutes.
Hawaii went on a 9-0 run in the second half to cut the Stanford lead to 59-53 with 11:17 left to play, but got no closer.
Thompson attended Punahou School — the same school Kuehu spent her prep days — before her family moved to Texas. She was greeted by a few dozen well-wishers and former teammates following the game.
“It’s great, you know, riding in the bus looking out the window at all the places I used to see on a daily basis,” Thompson said. “Looking back, it was great to see so many friends and family come out.”
TIP-INS:
Stanford: It was quite the turnaround from Friday’s abysmal offensive performance against North Carolina, when the Cardinal shot just 30.9 percent from the field and lost, 70-54. “We were out of sync yesterday,” VanDerveer said. “I also think a big difference for us was we really stressed getting it going inside more and I really think Erica McCall had a really good game and just so proud of her. Our bigs were stepping up for us more.”
Hawaii: The Rainbow Wahine saw their two-game winning streak end. It was just their second loss on their home court this season.
SEEING ORRANGE:
The senior guard, who entered Saturday averaging 13.4 points per game — which ranks second on her team behind Thompson, scored 12 of her 19 points after halftime. She came up three points shy of her career high, which came against then-No. 1 Connecticut earlier this month.
CONTINUED DOMINATION:
Stanford improved to 9-0 all-time versus Hawaii. The last meeting was on Nov. 17, 2012 in the Rainbow Wahine Classic and resulted in a 69-42 win for the Cardinal. The first time the teams faced off was 1978, when Stanford won 65-27, the largest margin of victory in the series.
SPECIAL HONOR: Former Hawaii congresswoman Patsy T. Mink (1927-2002) was recognized at halftime for her contributions to women’s athletics. Mink authoring the Women’s Educational Equity Act, better known as the Title IX Amendment of Higher Education, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. earlier this week.
UP NEXT:
Stanford takes on Prairie View A&M Sunday.
Hawaii plays No. 11 North Carolina on Sunday.
Friday
Connie Morris led four players in double figures with 15 points, and the University of Hawaii beat Prairie View A&M 72-58 at the Rainbow Wahine Shootout in Honolulu.
Shawlina Segovia added 14 points, Morgan Mason contributed 12 and Ashleigh Karaitiana had 11 points as the Rainbow Wahine improved to 4-1 for the first time in four seasons.
Shamiya Brooks led the Panthers (0-4) with 13 points.