Jaydynn Alexander lifted out of a funk, Daejah Phillips passed the first hurdle with two more go and Hawaii’s women’s basketball team was off and running at the Big West tournament in Las Vegas.
Former Waiakea standout Kelsie Imai, meanwhile, was more than just along for the ride Wednesday as the Rainbow Wahine turned the tables on Cal State Bakersfield with an 81-67 victory to reach the semifinals against top-seeded Cal Davis.
The Rainbow Wahine (9-7, 7-6 Big West) put four scorers in double figures and used a 17-3 spanning the first and second halves to pull away from the Roadrunners (9-9,7-6), who swept the regular-season series and held UH to a season-low 43 points in a game in January.
Almost reaching that at the half, Alexander finished a season-high 17 points, freshman Phillips came off the bench to post 15 points and nine rebounds, and freshman Olivia Davies and Imai added 16 and 10 points, respectively as UH accumulated as season-high in points.
“I came here to be winner, I wanted to make history at this program,” Phillips, who was recently named conference’s Best Sixth Player of the Year, said in a postgame media session. “I want go home with a championship.”
Winners of four of five and in the semifinals for the third consecutive, the Rainbow Wahine will take a day off to prepare for Cal Davis, which lost its first conference game last weekend to UH before winning a day later. Tip-off is at 10 a.m. Hawaii time Friday.
A point guard, Imai was 4 of 10 from the field – 2 of 5 from 3-point range – and had three assists.
It was an encouraging performance for Alexander, a senior who went 0 for 7 with just two points Saturday in the loss to the Aggies.
“Anyone who’s watched out program for four year, have you ever seen Jaydynn not play hard?” coach Laura Beeman said. “She figures out how to get herself out of a funk if she’s ever in one. She does not have an off-switch.”
• While the women are off Thursday, UH men’s basketball and men’s volleyball are not.
At the Big West men’s tournament, the No. 6 Rainbow Warriors (11-9, 9-9) face No. 3 UC Riverside (11-9, 9-9) in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday in Las Vegas.
The teams split the regular-season series.
Also Thursday, UH’s topranked men’s volleyball squad visits No. 3 UC Santa Barbara. Both teams are 4-0.