Hawaii women’s basketball: Julissa Tago, Amy Atwell head up Big West postseason awards for Rainbow Wahine

Hawaii, the 4 seed in this week’s Big West tournament, received a modest haul of conference postseason awards announced this morning.

Senior guard Julissa Tago and junior forward Amy Atwell headed up the Big West postseason awards for the Hawaii women’s basketball team announced by the conference this morning.

Tago, who posted a 15.0 scoring average and became the 22nd member of the Rainbow Wahine 1,000-point club, was named to the All-BWC first team. Atwell, the most accurate 3-point shooter in the league at 44.9%, was an All-BWC honorable mention and was named the conference’s Sixth Player of the Year for her scoring (10.7 points per game) off the bench.

Senior guard Julissa Tago picked up Big West first-team honors just before #HawaiiWBB left for the conference tournament Monday morning.

“Being on any team is an honor. … It’s somewhere I felt could’ve been since my freshman year.” pic.twitter.com/OAnBHSS5Sq

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) March 9, 2020

Point guard Nae Nae Calhoun was named to the league’s all-freshman team after averaging 5.4 points, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while junior wing Jadynn Alexander (6.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.7 spg) earned a spot on the all-defensive team.

Jennifer Gross became the first person to be named Big West Coach of the Year for four straight years in leading UC Davis to its fourth straight regular-season championship. Cal State Fullerton guard Raina Perez was named Big West Player of the Year in leading her peers with a 20.3 scoring average. UC Santa Barbara center Ila Lane, who leads the nation in rebounding at 13.0 per game, was named BWC Freshman of the Year.

UH (15-14, 9-7 BWC) will face a team to be determined at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid in the second round on Wednesday.

Some notes:
>> Tago is UH’s first first-teamer since Sarah Toeaina went back-to-back among the top six players in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
>> Atwell is the first Sixth Player winner since Megan Huff in 2015-16, and it’s the fifth time in eight years that UH won it since it rejoined the Big West in 2012-13.
>> UH got a player on the all-freshman team for the second straight year; Myrrah Joseph made it last year.
>> Alexander became the first UH player to make a BWC women’s all-defensive team, which was a new category this year. (Sydney Haydel was the singular Defensive Player of the Year in 2012-13.)

The full first team:
Jannon Otto, UC Riverside
Sierra Campisano, Cal Poly
Ila Lane, UC Santa Barbara
Raina Perez, Cal State Fullerton
Lauren Saiki, UC Irvine
Julissa Tago, Hawaii