By james art 
The Hawaii women’s basketball team capped off the ‘Beeman’s Bigger Bash’, earning a share of first place in the Big West Conference.
A season-high crowd of 2,978, which sounded double that size at times in a tight fourth quarter, watched Hawaii hold UC Irvine without a field goal for more than nine minutes to close out a 46-42 victory Saturday night at Simplifi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Lily Wahinekapu scored a team-high 13 points and made both free throws with 30 seconds left to extend Hawaii’s lead to 45-42.
The Anti-Teters hadn’t made a field goal in the fourth quarter until Lauryn Madson and Deya Lee made 3-pointers 12 seconds apart in the final minute to pull within a point.
UCI got a look to tie the game from the top of the arc by Madsen with 17 seconds left, but the ball snapped and ended up out of bounds.
Yovi Lefotu made one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game, and Ritari Tamilo drained an out-of-bounds 3-pointer with four seconds left on his third block that basically ended it.
“To have this team do what they did, figure things out after that first half and do what they did, especially in the fourth quarter, I think we probably won over a lot of fans tonight,” Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. “(The crowd) was amazing. They gave us the extra energy that was needed. It was an amazing environment. “
The 6-foot-5 Tamilo finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Imani Perez added nine points and 10 rebounds as Hawai’i’s lead did its job on the glass.
Hawaii moved to 13-6 overall and 7-2 in the conference, tying the Anteaters (13-6, 7-2) and Long Beach State, which was upset by Cal Poly earlier Saturday.
Hawaii has won seven straight games.
“We’re just going to continue to believe in our process and move forward,” Beeman said. “I want to be in first place come March. That’s the goal. “
UH shot 30.2 percent (16-for-53) from the field, but held UCI to 24.2 percent (15-for-62) shooting from the floor. Hawaii has held its last seven opponents to 50 points or less.
Tamilo recorded her first double-double as a Wahine Rainbow and set a career high in rebounds, reaching double figures for the second time.
Her block at the end helped hold the Anteaters to 13.3 percent (2-for-15) shooting in the fourth quarter.
“I was thinking, ‘Thank God I got the ball,'” Tamilo said. “Thank God it wasn’t bad, but yeah, that was super cool to see the crowd’s reaction.”
Hawaii starters Wahinekapu and Mia ‘Uhila opened with 0-for-7 shooting in a sluggish first quarter offensively for UH, which was held to five points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field and turned the ball over six times.
Tamilo scored all five of UH’s points, including a 3-point play with 6:35 on the clock for UH’s final points in the opening 10 minutes.
Summah Hanson’s 3-pointer put UC Irvine up 11-5 as the Anteaters closed the quarter on an 8-0 run as UH missed its final seven shots.
A left-handed hook in the paint by Imani Perez broke a scoreless drought that lasted more than eight minutes. Wahinekapu hit two 3-pointers in the second quarter to pull UH within two, but the Anteaters answered with a steal and layup by Nikki Thome and another 3 by Hanson to lead 22-17 at halftime.
UH burst out of the locker room in the second half with layups by Meilani McBee, Tamilo and Perez to give Hawaii a 23-22 lead and prompt UCI to call a quick timeout.
Beeman ran down the court and was sacked on his team’s opening drive until the third quarter.
“I think sometimes whether we’re playing well, whether we’re not playing well, those guys need to know that we absolutely believe in them,” Beeman said.
“This wait I was incredibly proud of just grit and confidence. I didn’t pump often, but this justifies it. “
The Anteaters quickly jumped out in front with a 7-0 run capped by a Hunter Hernandez 3.
UCI led by as many as eight before taking a 33-28 lead into the final quarter.
Hawaii outscored UCI 18-9 in the final period.
Hawaii hits the road next week starting Thursday at UC San Diego.