By Wes Nakama
HENDERSON, Nev. — After first running into a buzzsaw, and then becoming one, top-seeded Hawai’i eventually lost to UC San Diego by a single basket in the final second Friday afternoon in the Big West Conference women’s basketball semifinals.
Sumayah Sugapong’s driving layup with 0.1 seconds remaining was the killer blow after a wild tale of two halves that saw the Tritons take a shocking 39-12 lead in the first 18 minutes, only to see the Wahine roar back in the second half to tie it at 49-49 on Brooklyn Rewers’ three-point play with 1:20 left.
A vocal and passionate crowd of 1,627 — mostly UH fans — at Lee’s Family Forum watched Sugapong finish with a game-high 17 points as No. 5 seed UC San Diego improved to 19-15 and advanced to Saturday’s championship game against UC Davis.
Big West Player of the Year Lily Wahinekapu scored a team-high 12 points with seven rebounds and six assists for the Wahine, who fell to 22-9 and await a postseason bid — most likely in the WBIT — Sunday night. That postseason bid is assured, based on Hawai’i winning the regular season title.
But it also marks the second straight year in which the Wahine earned a double-bye into the conference semifinals, only to come up short in heartbreaking fashion.
Last season, it was UC Davis that dealt the blow with a 51-48 upset.
This time, it was a Tritons team that is making its first Big West tournament appearance after four years as a probationary member moving from Division II to DI.
“First off, I want to congratulate San Diego, I think they had a great game plan and their kids came out in really loose,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “They hit shots like crazy. I have not seen too many teams hit shots like that. It was a tale of two halves, and it came down to one shot at the end. We couldn’t get a stop, and they scored.”
The Tritons scored almost at will in the first period, shooting a torrid 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) in quickly building a 22-4 lead over the Wahine, who struggled from the field at just 2 for 17 (11.8 percent).
The second period was much of the same, with UCSD still hitting shots while Hawai’i only slightly improved at 3 for 12 (25 percent).
“Being in the Big West Tournament, this is our opportunity to show what we are capable of,” said Tritons guard Parker Montgomery, who hit five 3-pointers and scored 16 points, all in the first half. “The past four years when we weren’t eligible for the postseason … we would have been (qualified). So this our chance to show what we have been doing in DI.”
The Wahine particularly misfired from 3-point range, missing their first 13 attempts before MeiLani McBee finally drained one from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 41-18 with 40 seconds remaining before halftime. That’s where the score stood at the break.
“I don’t think we were tight, I really don’t,” Beeman said, in regard to the first half. “I just think we struggled, for whatever reason, with execution. And I think the way they punched us in the mouth in the first quarter really kind of shocked us.”
UH recovered somewhat in the third period, cutting it to 47-29 entering the fourth.
McBee then made a steal and layup one minute in to ignite a furious 15-0 run capped by Rewers’ two free throws which closed the gap to 47-44 with 2:27 still left to go.
The comeback evoked memories from two years ago, when the Wahine rallied from a 15-point deficit to stun UC Santa Barbara, 61-59, to win the Big West title.
“Yeah that Santa Barbara game was referenced, and we also emphasized the point that we have more time than we think,” said Rewers, who finished with 10 points. “At halftime we kind of centered ourselves and took the weight off of our shoulders, the pressure, and just came back out and played our best and gave it our all.”
Sugapong finally broke the run on a layup with 2:04 remaining to push the lead to 49-44, but Imani Perez answered with her own layup just 24 seconds later to cut it to 49-46.
After a backcourt turnover, Rewers then converted her three-point play to tie it at 49-49 with 1:20 on the clock.
After a blocked shot and turnover on the ensuing possessions, Hawai’i turned it over with 10 seconds left and Sugapong had the ball in the frontcourt with about seven ticks remaining.
The Wahine had a foul to give before the bonus, which would have resulted in a restart from an inbounds pass.
“We talked about giving a foul after about three seconds, or get a tie-up because we had the possession arrow going our way,” Beeman said. “But we just couldn’t get the foul. And then on the switch, we couldn’t get our big in front of the ball. And (Sugapong) made a tough shot.”
Despite the heartbreak, Beeman said the Wahine showed their heart in coming all the way back from 27 points down.
“That’s been this team all year long,” Beeman said. “They played for the State of Hawai’i. It’s pretty cool. I think they’ve shown that all year long. Representing our university and state is really something special, I think a lot of people understand that.
“All year long, they’ve represented with class, they played hard and came back from bad losses. We even put together a 14-game win streak.
“We lost significant players throughout the course of this season, but they never hung their head, they never felt bad for themselves. They never had a ‘quit’ mentality.
“I think that’s why I think at halftime we knew we were still in this ballgame … Unfortunately when you lose a game like this it hurts, but it will not define this team. We will rally, we still have a postseason to play in and hopefully we will continue to do special things together.”
