{"id":173925,"date":"2023-03-11T15:14:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T01:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=173925"},"modified":"2023-03-13T09:25:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T19:25:34","slug":"bows-win-big-west-tourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/03\/11\/bows-win-big-west-tourney\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bows bound for March Madness after come-from-behind win in Big West finals"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"people<\/p>\n

Update March 12, 2023:<\/strong> The Rainbow Wahine basketball team received a No<\/abbr>. 14 seed and is headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to play No<\/abbr>. 3 seed LSU<\/abbr> in the first round of the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament. The game is on Friday, March 17 at 11:30 a.m. HST<\/abbr>. LSU<\/abbr> enters the tournament with a 28-2 overall record and 15-1 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC<\/abbr>). The Tigers are coming off of a 69-67 loss to Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC<\/abbr> tournament.<\/p>\n

Original story:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The No<\/abbr>. 3 seed University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa Rainbow Wahine basketball team<\/a> is headed back to the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament after coming back from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat No<\/abbr>. 5 seed UC<\/abbr> Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference championship game, 61-59.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

The victory on March 11 in Henderson, Nevada marked the second consecutive season that the \u2018Bows secured the Big West\u2019s automatic berth into the Big Dance.<\/p>\n

Leading the way were sophomore guard and All-Big West first team selection<\/a> Lily Wahinekapu<\/strong>, and All-Big West honorable mention selection and sophomore guard Daejah Phillips<\/strong> each with 19 points. Phillips went 4-for-6 from beyond the 3-point line, and had the game-winning field goal with three seconds left in the game.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Bows and Gauchos were deadlocked at seven points each midway through the first quarter. However, UC<\/abbr> Santa Barbara went on a 15-8 run to close the quarter and led 22-15. The \u2018Bows closed the gap to five with just over seven minutes left in the second quarter, however 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> could only put up four points for the remainder of the quarter to the Gauchos\u2019 14. UC<\/abbr> Santa Barbara led 38-23 at halftime.<\/p>\n

The Gauchos maintained a commanding 15-point lead with just over six minutes left in the third quarter, however, the \u2018Bows went on a seven-point run of their own on shots by Kallin Spiller<\/strong>, Imani Perez<\/strong> and Meilani McBee<\/strong> to close the gap to eight. UC<\/abbr> Santa Barbara added two free throws at the end of the third quarter to lead 46-36 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.<\/p>\n

Both teams traded three-pointers to open the final quarter, before another Gauchos\u2019 bucket pushed their lead to 12. A layup and a pair of three-pointers in less than 90 seconds by 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> quickly closed the gap to four at 51-47 with 6:32 remaining. UC<\/abbr> Santa Barbara led by seven with just over three minutes remaining, however, huge three-pointers by Perez and Wahinekapu closed the Gauchos lead to just one. Then, with 1:21 remaining, Wahinekapu\u2019s layup gave the Rainbow Wahine their first lead of the game since more than halfway through the first quarter at 58-57. The Gauchos added two clutch free throws with six seconds left, before Phillips delivered the game-winning field goal with three seconds left and drew the and-one foul. The free throw pushed 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr>\u2019s lead to 61-59. A last second three-pointer by the Gauchos came up empty, giving the Rainbow Wahine the championship.<\/p>\n

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CHAMPIONSHIP COMEBACK COMPLETE!!!
\n#GoBows #SISTAHHOOD<\/p>\n

— Hawaii Women’s Basketball (@HawaiiWBB) March 11, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n