MĀNOA — For once, University of Hawai‘i women's basketball coach Laura Beeman allowed herself to lose her cool in the closing minutes of a game.
With a large, comfortable lead with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter, Beeman subbed out senior star Imani Perez. The forward from Colorado played all four of her collegiate seasons with the Rainbow Wahine, choosing to stay amid personal challenges and lucrative overtures from other schools to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
Perez and Beeman shared a long, passionate embrace. The goodbyes for Beeman, who has been at the helm in Mānoa since 2012, never get any easier. Relationships with players like Perez are why she sticks around year after year, despite a college landscape that's continuously added more to her plate.
"I don't know if I did [compose myself]," Beeman said following the team's emphatic 67-49 victory over Cal State Fullerton. "I took a really deep breath. I always say if someone is in your life and they're worth enough for you to cry over, both of you guys have done something great, and I've shed a lot of tears over that kid. I'm more than happy to do it again. Just water in my garden. That's all."
In its home finale for the 2025-2026 season, the Rainbow Wahine improved to 18-10 overall and 12-6 in Big West Conference play. The Rainbow Wahine, after starting their conference slate 0-5, have won 12 of their last 13 games.
All three of Hawai‘i's seniors were in the starting lineup on Saturday night in Perez, forward Saniyah Neverson and guard Izzy Forsyth, her first start of the season. Neverson had 12 points and seven rebounds with four assists, while Forsyth added eight points, splashing a pair of 3-pointers. Perez, one of the conference's most respected defensive players, had two blocks to go with her eight points and eight rebounds.
Forsyth spent her first three years at UC San Diego, while Neverson came to UH after three seasons at Northern Arizona. To Beeman, both were able to fit in with the team seamlessly.
"It's just tears of being so proud of these kids for what they've done, the way that this team loves each other, the fans that come out, and then just to watch the young women and the growth they've had, whether it's for a year or four years, it just makes me incredibly proud," Beeman said.
The Rainbow Wahine could have folded after their unideal start to conference play but stuck together. In Beeman's eyes, it was Perez who kept the team together as a group with seven freshmen adjusting to the pace of the college game.
"Defensively, I had concerns, because our defensive system can be a little bit complex, and the fact that this group has picked it up as well as they have is not surprising, but really fun to watch, and it's led by Imani," Beeman said. "She's been our glue all season long, and does so much work on that side of the ball."
When Perez checked out of a game at the Stan Sheriff Center for the last time, the exchange meant as much to her as it did her coach.
"We love each other," Perez said. "She's very special in my heart, and I've confided in her a lot. And so there is a love there between us."
The victory moved the Rainbow Wahine into a tie for fourth place in the conference standings. The 'Bows will play at UC Riverside on Thursday and at Long Beach State on Saturday to close out their regular season before the conference tournament in Henderson, Nev. from March 11-14.
"I think we're peaking at the right time," Beeman said. "We have two more huge games on the road, and then we're going to go to the tournament. Let's hope that we just continue to play well at the tournament."
Added Perez: "I just think we showed that we're ready and that we've grown. We've had great growth as a team, as a staff, just everything completely all together. We've grown and we've been more prepared now, and we've seen all the teams, and we know how they're ready to play us, and we're ready to play them back. We're ready just to get out there and compete."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
