Another full regular season championship won a major West Postseason award for the Hawaiian women’s basketball team.
Point guard Lily Wahinekap was selected as Big West Player of the Year, Laura Beeman was selected as Coach of the Year, and center Ritoriya Tamiro was selected as Freshman of the Year.
In addition to the BWC all-defensive team, Wahinekapu was named the second team of five players, and Forward Imani Perez was the representative of the six-player BWC first team UH.
Coach UH announced the award to the team at practice on the mainland ahead of this week’s Big West Championship at NEV’s Henderson.
Wahinekapu, an Iolani school graduate who graduated from Kaneohe, became the third person in the history of the program and received the personal honor of the top Big West. The senior averaged 11.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
She was the Big West Freshman of the Year at California State Fullerton, and received All Big West honours every year after transferring to UH during the final three years of her career.
For Beeman, it is the fourth coaching honor at the conference, third place in the last four years, and reflects his three championships since 2022. Goo has won three in Big West and one in WAC.
Well, coach Laura Behmann hugged Lily Wahinekap, who came down from the floor on a senior night. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Tamiro is UH’s first BWC Freshman of the Year since Mordy Gonzalez in 1995, and is third overall. The 6-foot-5 New Zealander set up a UH program record for the freshman block counted at age 38, providing 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game with a team-best 47.8% off the field.
A 6-foot-4 junior, Perez replicated his sophomore and sophomore in the defensive team. UH’s defensive anchor averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, blocking 29 shots.
Well, the previous Big West players this year are Judi Mosley (1990) and Amy Atwell (2022). Nani Cockett (1998) and Raylene Howard (1999, 2000) were WAC Player of the Year.
UH (22-8), the number one seed in the eight-team Big West Championship, will play in the semi-finals at 9am in Hawaii against his opponent. Tournament play begins on Wednesday.
Big West Freshman of the Year Ritori Ya Tamiro scored a shot against CSUN in the senior night. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Forward Imani Perez has been named the second and defensive team of All-BWC for the second year in a row. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Note: This story will be updated.
Brian McInnis covers the Spectrum News Hawaiian state sports scene. He can be contacted at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
