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UC Irvine women drop Big West tourney semifinal to Hawaii in OT

March 14, 2026

Hawaii just kept coming in waves.

The top-seeded UC Irvine women’s basketball team went toe to toe with fourth-seeded Hawaii in a Big West Tournament semifinal on Friday afternoon, but the depth of the Rainbow Wahine was too much for the Anteaters to overcome in a 67-63 overtime loss at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.

The final barrage came from freshman guard Bailey Flavell, who scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. She made a game-tying 3-pointer with seven seconds left in regulation, then made two free throws with six seconds remaining in overtime to seal the victory.

Hawaii (22-10) will meet second-seeded UC San Diego (23-8) in the championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. UCSD outlasted third-seeded UC Davis, 84-79, in the second semifinal.

Before Flavell got hot, it was Jovi Lefotu who scored eight of her nine points during an 8-0 run to end the third quarter and give Hawaii a 10-point lead entering the fourth.

And to start things off, it was Imani Perez, Ritorya Tamilo and Teyahna Bond, who scored nine points each in the first half with the two tallest players for Hawaii, Perez and Tamilo, combining to go 4 for 4 from 3-point range, and Tamilo and Bond each going 4 for 4 from the field. The trio combined for just two points after halftime.

The contribution from a mix of sources was enough to counter UCI guards Hunter Hernandez and Jada Wynn, who combined to score 51 of UCI’s 63 points on a day when the Anteaters shot just 29% from the field (18 for 62) but had half as many turnovers as Hawaii (14).

Hernandez, the Big West Player of the Year, finished with 33 points on 8-for-23 shooting from the field. She also shot 13 for 14 from the free-throw line, where UCI had a nine-point advantage on Hawaii.

“She’s the best player that I coached at Irvine with what she’s been able to do,” said UCI coach Tamara Inoue, who finished her 10th season at the school. “For her, (UCI) is special. She came here and she stayed because she believes in our vision and believes in UC Irvine, and that’s something she’s been able to hold with her all the way through. I thought tonight, she kept us in it and she was able to get her job done.”

Wynn, the Big West Newcomer of the Year, finished with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting, including 4 for 7 from 3-point range for UCI (26-6), which set a program record for wins this season.

“Just proud of our team, the way we fought back,” said Inoue, whose team shared the Big West regular-season title with UCSD. “It’s something our team always has done in the past, so made it a really good game.”

Hernandez scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to quickly cut the 10-point deficit to six, and her back-to-back 3-pointers made it a one-point game with 4:21 left.

Lauryn Madsen, who had missed her first five 3-point attempts, made one from the wing to give UCI a 58-57 lead with 3:24 to go, and neither team scored again until Wynn banked in a shot for a 60-57 lead with 12 seconds left.

The Rainbow Wahine (22-10) called timeout and drew up a play. Hernandez went underneath a screen at the 3-point line, giving Flavell enough room to launch a deep 3-pointer that swished through the net and tied the score.

UCI had two chances to win at the end of regulation, but Hernandez missed on a drive and Summah Hanson could not convert the putback at the buzzer.

Hawaii, which needed to survive overtime in its 72-61 quarterfinal win against fifth-seeded Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, left the door open early in overtime by missing its first four free throws, but Flavell gave the Rainbow Wahine the lead for good at 64-63 on a turnaround jumper with 1:28 remaining and then sealed the win with her final two free throws.

“Came out in the beginning of the first half just not ready, but the way we fought was really nice,” Inoue said.

Hernandez missed her first five shots before hitting a 3-pointer from the corner for an early 10-9 lead.

Perez sank her third 3-pointer of the first quarter for a 20-12 advantage before Hernandez scored the final four points of the period to cut it to four entering the second.

UCI stretched the scoring run to 9-0 and took the lead at 21-20 on two free throws by Hernandez. The score stayed close until Hawaii finished with a 10-0 run to take a 39-30 lead into halftime.

The Anteaters strung together their own 10-0 run in the third quarter to pull within two, but Lefotu came off the bench and scored the final eight points of the quarter to give Hawaii a 52-42 lead entering the fourth.

UP NEXT

UCI will now await Selection Sunday. While an NCAA Tournament at-large berth is unlikely (5 p.m. PT, ESPN) the WBIT selections will be revealed at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

Orange County Register

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UC Irvine women drop Big West tourney semifinal to Hawaii in OT

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