Rainbow Wahine basketball: Who’s got next?
UPDATE: Courtney Middap had next; she scored 14 points and UH had one of its deepest bench efforts of the season in beating UCSB 72-49 on Wednesday night.
It’s been anyone’s guess as to who will rise to the occasion on a game-to-game basis for the Hawaii women’s basketball team. That’s had a hand in some unpredictable results this season.
As was mentioned in Wednesday’s print edition, a bevy of players — nine — have led the Rainbow Wahine in scoring in a game this season.
Will that hold true this week at home? Or will the Wahine rally around someone in particular?
UH (9-13, 5-4 Big West) hosts UC Santa Barbara (5-17, 2-7) Wednesday night (Pink Night) and Long Beach State (7-15, 4-5) on Saturday.
“We have to continue to play. We are going to continue to push these guys,” UH coach Laura Beeman said this week. “We are going to continue to try to enforce consistency. Try to establish why we’re not being consistent. That’s probably the most frustrating thing, is when we play good basketball, we can beat anybody in the conference. We’ve shown that. We just can’t stay consistent enough to do that at times.”
Of late, they’ve been especially difficult to predict. In the last six games, there have been five different scoring leaders — and none by the season leader, Makenna Woodfolk (10.8 ppg). Freshman Myrrah Joseph is coming off her best game — 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists — but it came in a 56-40 loss at Long Beach State on Saturday.
“She’s one of the most talented freshmen I’ve seen come in,” sophomore wing Amy Atwell said. “Her ceiling and potential is just so high. She showed in that last game what she can really do for us, and we need that from Myrrah every single game from here on out if we’re going to go as far as we want to go, and win that ring.”
Here’s the breakdown, by player and games, including games tied for top scoring honors:
Makenna Woodfolk (8)
Leah Salanoa (5)
Julissa Tago (3)
Amy Atwell (2)
Courtney Middap (2)
Lahni Salanoa
Lauren Rewers
Jadynn Alexander
Myrrah Joseph
It’s quite possible this list grows, if Tia Kanoa goes off, or Rachel Odumu or Savannah Reier see extended minutes and hit a few shots.
I finally got to see one of Amy Atwell’s scoring spurts. They run plays for her. And she completes them. All those close-range shots remind me of Kylie Page.
I know what the Kam girls were thinking: We can take this team.
What was up with that halftime contest? Why in the world would you make two young women crabwalk across the floor? I don’t know. I thought it was a bad idea. I thought it kind of humiliated them. They just won a state title.
Rachel Odumu got off the bench. Hooray. And she hit a three.
I can’t picture UC-Santa Barbara beating CSUN. Channon Fluker must have been out.
Why who’s up next? Should be everyone steps up and play unselfish basketball as a team, and get the job done, execute the game plan. Good fundamentals, great basketball. As John Wooden said, “discipline yourself, and others wont have to”.
When you got a lid on the basket, you put it there. It’s your basket, not theirs. Take it off and put it on their basket.