SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team (7-5, 1-1 Big West) is back in action after a nearly two-week long holiday break on Thursday, as the Gauchos will resume Big West play against preseason favorites Hawai'i (6-5, 0-1 Big West). Santa Barbara has beaten the Rainbow Wahine each of the last four times that Hawai'i has visited the Thunderdome, including a 20-point comeback victory in January of 2023. In that game, Ila Lane and Alexis Tucker both scored the 1,000
th points of their careers;
Alyssa Marin is poised to do the same in Thursday night's game, coming in just three points away from the milestone.
LAST TIME OUT
With 13 years and a flip of the calendar between their last game and Thursday night's contest, the Gauchos will look to make the most of their clean slate. Santa Barbara's non-conference finale was one to forget, as they shot a nearly season-worst 26.7 percent from the field in a 54-46 loss at Eastern Washington. Marin (10 points) and
Skylar Burke (11 points) were the only two players wearing Blue and Gold to tally double digits, though as a silver lining, Burke finished just a single rebound shy of a double-double. Another stat worth holding on to was the Gauchos' perfection from the free-throw line, knocking down all 12 of their shots from the stripe, a first on the season.
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WAHINE
Hawai'i comes into Thursday night's game after essentially just as long of a holiday break, having last played a game on Dec. 21, losing to San Diego State in San Diego. That 54-52 loss was the Rainbow Wahine's second game in as many days, having fallen to Clemson, 72-58, the day before as part of a holiday tournament. Those losses put a cap on December for Hawai'i, a month in which the Rainbow Wahine managed just one win, a 56-15 (yes, 15) victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Prior to their rout of the Lions, Hawai'i had lost to No. 1 UCLA at home and Long Beach State in overtime, also at home. The Rainbow Wahine have just one win away from the islands, a Nov. 9 victory at Portland State.
Hawai'i's strength is in its defense, which is one of the top units in the country at preventing opponents from scoring, especially in the paint. Overall, the Rainbow Wahine are allowing an average of 55.9 points per game, the 37
th-fewest in Division I. They are holding opponents to just a 34.8 shooting percentage, the 20
th-lowest in the country, led by one of the most block-happy trios in all of college basketball. Their team average of 6.2 blocks per game ranks ninth nationally, with Ritorya Tamilo, Brooklyn Rewers and Imani Perez all averaging at least one swat per contest. Tamilo, a freshman center from New Zealand, leads the group with an average of 1.9.
The most obvious weak point in the Rainbow Wahine's defense is on the perimeter; opponents are shooting a respectable 30.2 percent against Hawai'i from three-point land. On the season, the Gauchos are shooting 30.3 percent from deep as a team. Hawai'i's other weak point is its offense, which has had one of the slowest starts to the season in the country. They have only scored 70 or more points once, tallying 72 at Portland State, and they have been held under 60 on six occasions, all in their last seven games. The Rainbow Wahine's 59.5 points-per-game average ranks 283
rd out of 353 Division-I teams.
FOLLOW ALONG
Santa Barbara and Hawai'i will tip off at 7 p.m. from the Thunderdome on Thursday night. Fans not able to make it to the game can catch all the action wherever they are by watching live on ESPN+ or by following along with live stats at ucsbgauchos.com/WBBLiveStats.
