HONOLULU – Lahni Salanoa was perfect from the field and Sarah Toeaina was perfect from the free throw line as the Hawai'i women's basketball team picked up its fourth win in five games and a season-sweep of Cal Poly in a 66-57 win over the Mustangs on Saturday night.
Salanoa went 6-of-6 from the field including 4-for-4 from 3-point range, and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five blocks. Meanwhile, Toeaina scored 23 points for the second time this season—both against Cal Poly—by hitting 7-of-10 from the field and all nine of her free throw attempts.
Cal Poly controlled the first quarter, building a 16-9 lead after the first 10 minutes as center Hannah Gilbert dominated with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and the Mustangs enjoyed a 14-4 scoring advantage in the paint.
The Rainbow Wahine (8-11, 4-3 Big West Conference) responded in the second quarter by holding the Mustangs (7-12, 3-4 Big West) to 5-of-20 from the field as Hawai'i used a 13-0 run to briefly take a four point advantage before the teams went into halftime tied 26-26.
Salanoa, who didn't attempt a shot in the first half, caught fire in the third quarter, going 4-for-4 from the field and knocking down all three of her 3-point attempts to help Hawai'i take a 48-37 lead into the final quarter. UH went 7-for-10 at the free throw line in the fourth to fend off Cal Poly's attempted comeback and extend its home conference winning streak to nine games.
Briana Harris hit 6-of-8 free throws and added 14 points off the bench for the Rainbow Wahine and Olivia Crawford finished with nine points and a season-high four assists.
Hawai'i shot 40 percent (21-of-52) and held the Mustangs to 32 percent (21-of-65) and 0-for-10 from 3-point range. Cal Poly is the second Big West team to fail to convert a 3-pointer against Hawai'i this season, after Cal State Fullerton went 0-for-15 from long range against Hawai'i on Jan. 12.
Gilbert, who scored her 1,000th career point for Cal Poly in the game, finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Dynn Leaupepe led the Mustangs with 16 points and also added seven rebounds.
Hawai'i is on the road next week, visiting UC Riverside (Feb. 2) and CSU Northridge (Feb. 4) before coming back for four consecutive home games, beginning Feb. 8 against UC Riverside.
