University of Hawai‘i women's basketball coach Laura Beeman says she doesn't know how many net pieces she has in her office, but each addition to her collection is a welcome one.
"I'm trying to build a new net," Beeman joked after the Rainbow Wahine's 66-51 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday night. "No, I'm kidding. I just keep them in the office with other (championship) rings and trophies and you just kind of look at them on a day and you're like, 'OK, that was a pretty cool year.' And I don't know what net belongs to what, but when you look at them, you know it's a great memory."
The Rainbow Wahine had plenty of reason to celebrate on Thursday night, cutting down the nets when the night was over — a customary tradition in winning basketball championships.
With the win, the 'Bows improved to 21-8 overall and 15-4 in Big West, clinching the conference's regular season title and top seed in next week's Big West tournament. As the top seed, the Rainbow Wahine advance straight to the semifinals against a team to be determined on Friday, March 14 in Henderson, Nev.
In her 13 seasons at the helm at UH, Beeman has guided the program to four conference regular season titles and three conference tournament titles. Although her 2024-2025 team has one regular season game remaining on Saturday against Cal State Northridge, Thursday was a reminder for her team to enjoy their successes along the way.
"I'm trying to take the coaching hat off right now and just enjoy this moment, because too often I don't," Beeman said. "What this group has done thus far is super special. We're not done. But for tonight, we're going to enjoy what they did."
"Coach B actually had to kind of have a talk with us, because we're so focused on winning in the tournament," added senior guard Kelsie Imai, who had a game-high 12 points on Thursday. "She had to let us know, like, it's OK to celebrate on Thursday if you guys win. That's also a huge accomplishment. But yeah, super excited and super proud of the girls, though we still have something bigger to win."
Thursday's win for the Rainbow Wahine broke a two-game losing streak last week, which was preceded by a 14-game winning streak. The Rainbow Wahine trailed 16-10 early in the second quarter, but a 30-4 run that spanned from the second to third quarter broke the game open for UH.
Hawai‘i will close out its regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Cal State Northridge at the Stan Sheriff Center. Following the game, Imai, MeiLani McBee, Lily Wahinekapu, Brooklyn Rewers, Mia ‘Uhila and Hallie Birdsong will be honored as part of senior night festivities.
"As a little girl, you watch this on TV, and coming in as a freshman, it seems so far away," said Imai, a Waiākea High School alumna. "I feel like it came so quickly, but I don't know. I'm excited, it hasn't hit me yet, but I'm sure I will be crying along with the rest of my seniors."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
