There were plenty of firsts for University of Hawai‘i women's basketball head coach Khalilah Mitchell to check off during Wednesday night's exhibition game against Hawai‘i Pacific.
Mitchell, who was named head coach in April following a nationwide search after Laura Beeman's surprise resignation, had been an assistant under Beeman for a total of seven seasons. After hitting the recruiting trail in the spring and summer while keeping the Rainbow Wahine sharp during offseason workouts, official practices began in late September.
Wednesday was another key step for the 'Bows; it was the team's first time taking on another squad under their new head coach. With a 7 p.m. tipoff, it was Mitchell's first time experiencing a gameday as the leader at the helm. As the Rainbow Wahine went though their pregame warmups and layup line, Mitchell sat on the other side of the court, allowing her assistants to work closer with the players.
Once the ball was tipped, the Division II Sharks were outmatched by the Rainbow Wahine in every which way. Hawai‘i breezed to a 90-38 victory. After the game, Mitchell addressed attending media in the Stan Sheriff Center green room as part of her head coach obligations, another first.
"As an assistant coach, I'm a lot more aggressive with refs, and today I could not do that, so that was a first," Mitchell joked. "Another first was just doing it in front of a crowd. That was really cool. Another first is honestly just doing it with [the team]. This is the way it happened, and following Coach B and just with this group of girls, I can't explain it. I tried my best to be in the moment, and that's what I really focused on the whole time."
As she takes over the program and makes her own mark on the team, one thing is clear about a Mitchell-led team: the Rainbow Wahine will play fast.
Since the day she got the job, Mitchell has stated that her teams will play with pace on offense. On Wednesday, the 'Bows were relentless in that regard, scoring 29 fast break points. The majority of their buckets came in the paint, with 59 of their points supplied from close range.
"We want to score. We want to be up tempo," Mitchell said. "That is what we expect to do all year."
With a major size advantage over the Sharks leading to a plethora of layups, the Rainbow Wahine limited themselves to 12 3-point attempts, making just two shots from beyond the arc. As the team adjusts back to its Division I schedule, Mitchell expects more opportunities from 3 will come the team's way.
No player flourished under the new style of play more than Rainbow Wahine sophomore guard Bailey Flavell, who poured in 27 points on an efficient 10-for-13 shooting.
"I think coming in the second year, definitely more comfortable having a year under my belt and just having that experience means I can come in and use my voice a bit more and be able to talk more about what I see, and also just look for my shots in different areas of my game that I probably wasn't doing at the start of last year," Flavell said.
Wednesday's exhibition was also a return to form for senior Jovi Lefotu, who started at guard alongside Flavell. After two major knee injuries during her UH career, the ‘Iolani alumna had a healthy offseason and added nine points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes on Wednesday.
"I love playing with Jovi, and it's been super cool seeing her [return] from last year," Flavell said. "We have a great connection off the court, so I think that leads on to the court. She really suits the style of play, and she's great. She's our leader out there, so we really rely on her."
With Wednesday's exhibition under their belts, the Rainbow Wahine will begin the regular season on Nov. 2 at Oregon, the first of 10 teams the Rainbow Wahine will face that reached the postseason in the 2025-2026 season.
"Our word for this year is 'togetherness,'" Mitchell said. "Y'all see that nonconference schedule? How do we stay together when we face opponents where it's gonna be way more difficult? We can't lose that, we have to show up with our standard. I'm not looking at the score. I'm looking at, hey, are we communicating? Are we running our lanes? Are we showing up? Are we playing our tempo and our pace? Are we doing the things that we can control? And if we do those things, then I don't care about how the score looks. That's what the standard looks like."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
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