Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— No. 1 seeded UC Irvine (20-6, 7-0 BW) won its second straight Big West Championship needing overtime to top No. 2-seed Hawai'i, 10-9, Sunday on the campus of UC Santa Barbara.

Erin Tharp was named the 2023 Big West Women's Water Polo Championships Most Valuable Player with her 14 saves to earn the win for the Anteaters.

Tharp is the third UCI goalkeeper to earn MVP honors along with teammate Jordan Frost (2022) and Jenna Phreaner (2018).

The championship win records UC Irvine's 10th 20-win season in program history.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>No. 4 ranked UC Irvine out shot No. 5 Hawai'i, 35-31
>Erin Tharp made the start in the cage, blocking 14 shots in her 11th win of the season
>Tharp has recorded double figure saves in six games this season
>Airian Grisham paced the offensive behind her three goals on five shots
>Grisham also assisted on two goals
>Nioka Thomas has scored four goals in seven matches this season
>Kennedy East (2-5) and Libby Alexander (2-3) scored multiple goals in the contest
>Alexander and Kili Skibby dished out twice

FIRST PERIOD
>Hawaii threatened first on the one player advantage, but Erin Tharp blocked the shot which came in closer than two meters
>The Rainbow Wahine's Alba Bonamusa Boix (5:19) let one fly from long range to open up the scoring, 0-1
>Kennedy East (0:56) slammed one past three UH defenders to knot the game 1-1 on the assist from Libby Alexander
>Hawai'i committed an offensive foul to give Jensine Bugelli the ball. Bugelli (0:45) took it coast to coast, passing to Alexander outside the two-meter mark and then received it back to juke the UH goalkeeper, 2-1
 
SECOND PERIOD
>Elena Flynn took a shot that the Rainbow Wahine saved at the goal line and used that momentum to go one-on-one with Tharp, 2-2 (6:58)
>Tharp then came up huge and blocked a missile from straight on
>With the last second effort, Kennedy East (1:27) lobbed one into the upper left corner as the shot clock rang, 3-2

THIRD PERIOD
>Hawai'i placed the ball into the center for the no look shot, but Nioka Thomas was in the right place to break up the play
>After calling a timeout to regroup, UC Irvine executed a set play in which Alexander (3:35) was able to convert on the 6-on-5, 4-2
>Hawai'i halted the Anteaters run at 2:07 with a shot from long range, 4-3
>Three Anteater defenders surrounded the lone Hawai'i player to strip the ball away on the Rainbow Wahine counterattack
>Airian Grisham found Thomas at the top of the UCI offensive formation for the quick release, 5-3 (0:58)
>Kili Skibby threw cross pool to Grisham (0:14) who buried it into the back of the cage, 6-3
> UH got lucky on the last attempt as the ball was deflected into the cage with zeroes on the clock, 6-4

FOURTH PERIOD
>Tharp's athleticism showed in her two crucial blocks to start the quarter, performing some acrobatics to keep the cage clear
>Hawai'i brought it back within one at 5:27 as they capitalized with an extra attacker, 6-5
>UH's Bia Mantellato Dia utilized the crossbar to put the ball in the cage for the equalizer, 6-6 (3:36)
>With 11 seconds left in regulation, Hawai'i called a timeout to draw up a plan that was ultimately stopped by Tharp as she denied the ball to force extra time
 
FIRST OVERTIME
>Jessica Lynch dished to Grisham (2:32) for the high arcing launch from distance, 7-6
>Hawai'i answered at 1:56 on the power play, 7-7
>Grisham passed to Skibby at 1:40 who found the back of the net, 8-7
>Alexander (0:41) snuck the ball in the near side to push the 'Eater advantage, 9-7
 
SECOND OVERTIME
>UH skipped the ball into the far side of the cage off the water to bring it back within one, 9-8 (2:36)
>Grisham (2:01) notched the hat-trick on the flick into the goal on the two-meter pass from East, 10-8
>Hawai'i reset on the following offensive possession to close in 10-9 at 1:24

UP NEXT
UC Irvine awaits their fate in the NCAA tournament. The selection show is set to air at 5 p.m. PT on Monday May 1st.