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Propelled by production off the bench, Hawaii picked up a decisive win to open the Rainbow Wahine Shootout on Friday.
UH forward Jacque David scored a career-high 17 points in a perfect shooting performance and the Rainbow Wahine basketball team got 32 points from reserves in a 63-47 win over Grambling State in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH entered the game 0-4 for the first time since 2018 after falling to Lipscomb in overtime on Sunday and shot 45.5% from the field against Grambling State while dishing out 16 assists on 25 field goals to stop the start of the season skid.
“Coming out today after a very tough loss to Lipscomb I felt a lot of moxie from the girls and just their ability to stay focused on the fact that we are a good team and what we need to do to win ball games,” UH coach Laura Beeman said.
“Our bench gave us a good boost tonight. But that’s not shocking, that’s what we expect.
David made all seven field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, and scored his only free throw of the game. Starting guard Daejah Phillips got off to a slow start offensively to score 12 of his 15 points in the second half. The sophomore had a career-high seven assists, and forward Kallin Spiller had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
David’s most productive game of his UH career was part of a bench effort that included center Imani Perez’s six points on a 3-on-3 shot in the first half and two 3-pointers from Meilani McBee that helped the Wahine to take a 32-22 lead. go to halftime.
“Coming off the bench, I just try to get my team going, keep them motivated and keep them excited so we don’t stagnate,” David said.
Phillips went 1 for 5 from the field in the first half, but went 4 for 4 in a nine-point outburst in the third quarter and found Spiller and David for layups that accounted for the other two field goals of HU during the period.
“Daejah is this three to four level scorer for us,” Beeman said, referring to Phillips’ ability to score in the paint, on mid-range jumpers and from 3-pointers and making it easy for her teammates. .
“She’s a great team-mate, she works very hard on both sides of the ball and as long as we can continue to find great chemistry with her and other team-mates, we’ll be fine because it’s a tough game.”
The three-day tournament continues today with UH (1-4) taking on Florida Gulf Coast (4-1) at 2:30 p.m.
“Obviously we can’t return the ball 22 times and give up 26 points,” Beeman said of the adjustments ahead of the rematch with FGCU.
“We have to keep improving as a team to be where we want to be in conference. Against the Gulf Coast of Florida, you have to take care of the ball, execute on offense and come back in transition (defense).
UH missed its first five shots on Friday as Grambling State took a 6-0 lead. Perez broke through for UH with an assist from Lily Wahinekapu to spark a 9-0 UH run capped by David’s 3-pointer from left wing.
Down 11-9, UH went on an 18-0 run to fill the break quarter, with McBee hitting two 3-pointers, both powered by Wahinekapu. A Phylicia Allen Grambling State field goal on the UH surge was later wiped out after an officials review and ruled a timer violation and the Wahine led 32-22 at halftime.
With UH up 49-40 with 6:37 left in the fourth quarter, David scored eight points in a 10-0 UH run that put the game away.
Colbi Maples went 3 for t5 from 3-point range to lead Grambling State (1-5) with 17 points.
No. 2 Stanford 93, Florida Gulf Coast 69
All-America guard Haley Jones scored eight of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cardinal (6-1) pull away from the Eagles (4-1) in Game 1 of the tournament.
Jones finished with 14 rebounds and went 4 for 5 from the field in the fourth quarter as Stanford outscored FGCU 32-16 in the final 10 minutes. Forward Kiki Iriafen added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Cameron Brink added 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 on free throws.
FGCU guard Tishara Morehouse, a 5-foot-3 senior, led the Eagles with 24 points and forward Uju Exeudu hit four 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.