Hawaii women’s basketball: Thursday’s 94-point outburst rare in 21st century
In the moment, you got the feeling that it was something that hadn’t been seen in some time.
UH kept scoring and scoring on Thursday night against UC Irvine, to the point that the Rainbow Wahine did something not seen in nearly two decades.
They cracked 90 points against a Division I team.
The 94-70 outburst was the program’s highest point total since a 97-88 overtime win over SMU on March 9, 2001. It was the second time UH racked up 90-plus points under Laura Beeman. (The other was a 92-40 win over BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 13, 2014.)
How will UH (10-10, 4-3 Big West) follow that act up against Long Beach State (10-10, 5-2) Saturday night at 5:30? The Beach was quicksand for UH in a 62-55 Wahine loss at the Walter Pyramid last week.
UPDATE: UH beat The Beach 68-44 to move to 5-3 in conference play.
#HawaiiWBB guard Julissa Tago and coach Laura Beeman envision a different outcome against Long Beach State tonight from last week’s 62-55 loss.
UH is coming off s 94-point outburst against UC Irvine.
“We need to attack.” pic.twitter.com/EpzIGtOolL
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) February 1, 2020
Until Thursday, the 2001 SMU game was the last time UH reached the 90 mark against a D-I team. Why is 90 special? Well, for one thing, the Wahine are 57-0 all-time when they reach that plateau.
But you can see below — every time UH scored 90 or more points in a game is listed — that which was once commonplace has gotten increasingly tough to do.
Vince Goo’s teams in the 1990s had the run of things, getting up and down with abandon and regularly hanging 90-plus on old Big West teams like San Jose State.
Between Dec. 8 and Jan. 3 of the 1989-90 season, the Wahine scored 90-plus points in five straight games. That team went 26-4 and made the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Scoring dropped dramatically in the 2000s, with a slowed pace of play coinciding with some struggles for the program. Scores in the 50s and 60s became far more prevalent.
Last year UH was held to 29 in a loss to Cal State Northridge. That kind of contrast makes UH’s recent firepower at home — it sank a program-record 18 3-pointers against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 18 — all the more remarkable.
Until Thursday, the closest UH came within a basket of 90 against a Division I team in recent years was an 87-79 win over Cal Poly in 2017.
UH has cracked the century mark six times, but hasn’t done it since a 105-81 win over UNLV on Feb. 7, 1998.
All-time UH women’s basketball games of 90-plus points (opponent’s scoring in parentheses)
114 — BYU-Hawaii (50), Feb. 2, 1978
107 — UC Santa Barbara (75), Feb. 1, 1990
106 — Southern Utah (87), Dec. 17, 1993
106 — Portland State (81), Dec. 13, 1991
105 — UNLV (81), Feb. 7, 1998
100 — UNLV (85), March 5, 1993
99 — at BYU-Hawaii (62), Jan. 30, 1979
99 — at BYU-Hawaii (41), Feb. 18, 1981
99 — Missouri-St. Louis (66), Dec. 4, 1986
99 — San Jose State (80), Feb. 7, 1992
98 — Northeastern Illinois (59), Feb. 28, 1993
98 — California (73), Dec. 4, 1993
97 — at UC Irvine (46), Feb. 19, 1990
97 — New Mexico State (66), March 6, 1992
97 — Detroit (53), Dec. 18, 2000
97 — SMU (88, OT), March 9, 2001
96 — Hawaii Pacific (48), Jan. 2, 1985
96 — New Mexico State (89), March 8, 1992
96 — San Jose State (52), Jan. 7, 1996
95 — Alaska-Anchorage (78), Dec. 20, 1981
95 — Oklahoma (82), Dec. 6, 1991
95 — at UC Irvine (55), Jan. 23, 1992
95 — San Jose State (45), March 6, 1994
94 — at San Jose State (65), Nov. 23, 1985
94 — at Santa Clara (69), Dec. 19, 1988
94 — Weber State (68), Dec. 8, 1989
94 — San Jose State (62), Jan. 8, 1990
94 — UC Irvine (70), Jan. 30, 2020
93 — Hawaii Pacific (50), Dec. 18, 1982
93 — Wyoming (77), Nov. 26, 1988
93 — New Mexico State (70), March 11, 1993
92 — Alaska-Anchorage (91), Dec. 22, 1980
92 — Alaska-Fairbanks (63), Feb. 9, 1985
92 — at Portland (73), Dec. 18, 1989
92 — Saint Mary’s (61), Jan. 3, 1990
92 — at Cal State Fullerton (77), Jan. 28, 1992
92 — Southern Utah (69), Dec. 18, 1993
92 — Pacific (58), Feb. 25, 1994
92 — BYU-Hawaii (40), Dec. 13, 2014
91 — Hawaii Pacific (41), Jan. 13, 1986
91 — at Oregon State (59), Dec. 20, 1989
91 — Portland State (81), Dec. 15, 1991
91 — at UC Irvine (61), Jan. 27, 1992
91 — at Long Beach State (90), Jan. 13, 1993
91 — at San Jose State (54), Feb. 7, 1993
91 — Wyoming (73), Dec. 3, 1993
91 — at Nevada (48), Jan. 7, 1994
91 — Southern Miss (81), Dec. 7, 1996
91 — UC Santa Barbara (66), Dec. 22, 1997
91 — UTEP (55), Jan. 8, 2000
91 — at San Jose State (61), Feb. 23, 2001
90 — BYU-Hawaii (38), Jan. 25, 1978
90 — at Alameda College (77), Feb. 17, 1979
90 — San Jose State (55), Jan. 2, 1988
90 — Weber State (69), Dec. 10, 1989
90 — SMU (68), Feb. 27, 1993
90 — Fresno State (62), Jan. 4, 1998
What’s weird about this is that Coach B has scored 90+ in a non-conference game, and 90+ in a conference game. Rarely has the Wahine scored 80 or 90 in a conference match, mainly because of the type of recruiting we were getting. Plus too, it’s hard to score 80 or 90 in a game unless if the team starts out hot in terms of shooting, and that’s not including hitting 3s at a good pace. Don’t get me wrong, I liked how Coach B’s team did just that in their win against UC Irvine, but at the same token, you don’t want to experience a big letdown the next game after they score that high in the previous one. That’s been quite a trend under Coach B. When her teams score really high, there usually seems to be a trend with scoring that drops after that, which either results in wins or losses.
Consistency should be the main key down the stretch after LBSU because they will be facing a trek against UCSB and Cal Poly on the road, two teams that they have yet to face halfway into conference play. If you’re Coach B, you cannot take things for granted, especially because UCSB does have some solid talent, despite being in a tie for 5th, and Cal Poly has two of the top three individual scorers in the Big West in Sierra Campisano (16.2 ppg) and Abbey Ellis (15.9 ppg). If wondering who’s the top, it’s CSF’s Raina Perez with 20.9 ppg. But yet, when you look at this, you wonder how those two teams with those players are at the bottom half of the conference. Shows that the Big West is becoming too predictable.
But yeah, if Coach B is going to get a winning record going, it should start with taking advantage of the final 8 conference games and jock for a spot at the top. I don’t care if they get either one bye or double bye, but all I can care about is if they can make a giant run towards the end, just like last year. Let’s get this finished!