Box Score Irvine, Calif. – Hawaii controlled the glass and beat UC Irvine, 83-65 at the Bren Events Center Thursday.
Hawaii, the league's leader in rebounds, proved why, with a dominant 52-27 advantage over UCI.
Shereen Sutherland led UCI (3-16, 0-5) with a game-high 15 points and a team best five rebounds. Tayla Jackson and Irene Chavez each added nine points off the bench with Jackson matching Sutherland with five rebounds. Mokun Fajemisin and Raelyn Cheung-Sutton recorded six points as did Tierra Hicks in 11 minutes of action. Cheung-Sutton, who is 16th nationally in assists per game, fired six assists for the game.
Hawaii (10-8, 3-2) was paced by 15 points and nine rebounds from Megan Huff in 21 minutes off the bench. Olivia Crawford and Marissa Wimbley each had 11 points, while Brianna Kennedy, Briana Harris and Destiny King all recorded eight points in the win.
Hawaii shot 46.2% (30-65) from the floor and 77.3% (17-22) from the free throw line. UCI went 41.8% (28-67) from the field and just 4-8 (.500) from the line.
UCI built an early 9-5 lead on a Shereen Sutherland three-pointer. Another Sutherland basket (11-9) proceeded an 18-0 run by Hawaii to break open a 27-11 advantage. A layup by Tayla Jackson with 37 seconds finally stopped the run as the Rainbow Wahine would end the first quarter with a 29-15 lead.
Hawaii would open 45-30 lead on a three-pointer by Marissa Wimbley and go in to half on top, 45-33.
UCI would close within eight (47-39) on a pair of Sutherland baskets that was followed by a bucket by Mokun Fajemisin at 7:18, but Hawaii answered with the next 10 points pushing the lead back to 57-39 with 3:53 to play in the third quarter.
A three-pointer by Arianna Knox ended a 7-2 run by the Anteaters to narrow the margin to 74-62 with 3:03 to play. Once again Hawaii responded, scoring the next six points and nine of the final 12 points to end the game with a 83-65 victory.
UCI will travel to Cal State Fullerton Saturday (Jan. 23). It is the second game of a double-header in Titan Gym so the tip-off will be approximately 6:15 p.m.
