Thoms eager to play close to home as Wahine try to move on

Coaching at the University of Hawaii for 12 years, Laura Beeman understands what it means to represent an entire state.

It makes the pain of a loss, like the one the Rainbow Wahine suffered last Friday in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament, hurt even more than normal.

It also makes the thrill of winning that much more special.

Hawaii opens the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament today against California at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif., with a chance to earn its first postseason win in more than 20 years.

It’s not the NCAA Tournament that Hawaii had been hoping to play in all season, but the realization of what it would mean for more than just the program has sunk in, allowing the team to turn the page from last week’s crushing defeat.

“It’s very different when you coach for the state of Hawaii than any other place. When you feel like you’ve disappointed not your inner circle, but the entire state, it kind of hits you in the feels,” Beeman said via Zoom call Wednesday. “It was a tough (time) after (UC) Davis and just kind of how I felt about that … I think the winning in the postseason would just be something that would excite the entire state and that’s just a really fun position to be in.”

The Rainbow Wahine (20-10) get a fourth opportunity at beating a Pac-12 team after losing on the road to Stanford and UCLA, both No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and at home to Washington, a No. 2 seed in one of the four eight-team quadrants in the WBIT tournament.

Senior Ashley Thoms, the only player from California on the Hawaii roster, admitted she was pretty excited when the WBIT bracket was released.

Thoms grew up in Lafayette, Calif., about 13 miles east of Berkeley.

“I grew up going to (Cal) games all of the time,” Thoms said Wednesday. “It’s like a full circle-moment. We would come all of the time. Football games, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, every single sport. I have a lot of people coming out so that’s really exciting for me.”

Thoms said it’s been difficult for the team to get past the loss to UC Davis.

Starters Olivia Davies, Lily Wahinekapu and Imani Perez combined to shoot 1-for-23 from the field. Hawaii shot 30.8% from the field as a team and committed 16 turnovers and yet still had a chance to take the lead with 10 seconds remaining, but missed two free throws.

A win would have put UH into the final against a UC Irvine team the Rainbow Wahine had defeated twice in the regular season.

“It’s definitely hard to leave it in the past, but we’ve got things to do, and we still have things we can accomplish that Hawaii women’s basketball hasn’t done,” Thoms said. “It’s pretty exciting thinking about different ways to change our mindset. You definitely don’t want to end your last game how we did. This opportunity is really cool to try to end on a higher note.”

Hawaii is 6-20 all-time in postseason play with its last win coming in the WNIT tournament in 2001 when it won three games to reach the semifinals.

This is the eighth time UH has qualified for the postseason under Beeman, going 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament and 0-4 in the WNIT.

Cal (18-14) ended the regular season tied with Washington State for eighth place in the Pac-12 standings and defeated the Cougars in the first round of the conference tournament before losing to Stanford.

Hawaii has played at Cal only once previously, losing 71-40 in January 1978.

“Their bigs are pretty versatile. I think it’s going to come down to us not turning the ball over and definitely getting on the boards,” Beeman said. “If we don’t put a body on somebody it could be a long night for us just on that side of the ball.”

Beeman said she was optimistic about junior guard Daejah Phillips, who won the Big West’s Best Sixth Award as the best player off the bench, playing against the Bears. Phillips injured her ankle in the third quarter of the Big West semifinals.

“If there is any way at all possible, Daejah will be on the floor. She wants to play,” Beeman said. “It’s completely up to Daejah and how that ankle is and it’s not up to me. If she feels like she can go and there is no risk, then she is going to go.”

Tipoff is 4 p.m. and the game is available on ESPN+.

Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament

At Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.

Hawaii (20-10) vs. California (18-14)

>> Today: 4 p.m.

>> TV: ESPN+

>> Radio: KKEA 1420-AM / 92.7 FM