After taking the University of Hawai‘i women's basketball team to eight postseasons in 12 years, the 2024-2025 season was shaping up to be Laura Beeman's best yet in Mānoa.
With three consecutive postseason appearances and an experienced senior class of eight players, the Rainbow Wahine appeared primed for a special year and were the official preseason pick by Big West coaches to win the conference.
When the calendar turned to 2025, early expectations were not met. The Rainbow Wahine started the season 6-6, including 0-2 in Big West play with losses to Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Additionally, former starting forward Jacque David medically retired, while star player Daejah Phillips stepped away from the team indefinitely for personal reasons.
Despite all the adversity facing the team, the Rainbow Wahine have reeled off 13 straight wins since then, taking a comfortable lead in the Big West standings with five regular season games left. The 'Bows (19-6, 13-2 Big West) have just one game this week and host UC San Diego on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"Winning is fun," Beeman said earlier this week. "It's really fun, and so after each win, we want to talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, how we need to get better, but we celebrate that win. I don't think we're getting wrapped up in the number of wins we're stringing together. I think it's where you put your attention. You can get wrapped up in a streak ... or you can get wrapped up in your process of we just want to win again, and we need to do that by having great process on the basketball court.
"If we do that, it takes your focus off the things that really don't matter. These kids aren't going to care that we won 13 in a row if we don't win a championship, they care less, and so it's where you put your attention. I think a lot of people get wrapped up in stuff that doesn't matter. We're wrapped up in what we need to do to get the next point. That's it."
Despite losing two seniors along the way, the Rainbow Wahine have continued to lean on their experienced guards throughout the season, including a pair of local senior guards in Kelsie Imai, a graduate of Waiākea, and Lily Wahinekapu, an ‘Iolani alumna.
In UH's most recent road trip, which included a crucial 49-44 triumph at fellow Big West contender UC Irvine, Imai dished out her 300th career assist.
"I feel like the focus might have shifted a little bit," Imai said of the team's 0-2 start in conference play. "Honestly, we're just having fun as a team. When we have fun, we play one of our better versions of basketball."
The Rainbow Wahine are closing in on clinching the top seed in the Big West Tournament, which runs from March 12-15 in Henderson, Nevada. Saturday's game marks the first time in 2025 that the 'Bows only had one game in a week as opposed to the regular schedule of playing every Thursday and Saturday in the Big West.
"It comes at a perfect time for us," Beeman said of the break in the schedule. "The travel every other week has been difficult, so this comes at a great time for us all to kind of take a deep breath, get a little bit more rest and prepare for a very, very good team. ... This is a game that as much as we want the week off and be able to take a deep breath, you can't overlook a team like this at all."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
