One tip, one long pass and one bucket in five seconds.
The Khalilah Mitchell era of Rainbow Wahine basketball is off and running as the first-year head coach watched her team clobber Hawaii Pacific 90-38 on Wednesday night at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in front of a crowd of 327.
Bailey Flavell scored a game-high 27 points on 10-for-13 shooting and Hawaii pushed the pace with at least 20 points in each the first three quarters to top the Sharks.
Hawaii shot 32-for-56 (57.1%) from the field and outscored Hawaii Pacific 29-0 in fast-break points.
“That is what we expect to do more,” Mitchell said. “When I talk about tempo, we want all of it. We want them to play within in the tiered system that we have.”
Ritorya Tamilo added 14 points 12 rebounds, three rebounds and officially three blocks despite not being credited for two late in the third quarter.
Teyahna Bond added 13 points and her sister, newcomer Taryn Bond, had nine points.
All 10 players available for the game had scored a point by halftime.
“I thought we were really ready to play and we were tired of playing each other within our scout team so it was really good to play someone else,” Mitchell said. “I thought the biggest thing for us and for the year is our standard and what we want to do.”
Cori Wilcox and KalysaMarie Ng each had six points to lead Hawaii Pacific.
Jovi Lefotu, who returned for her fifth season, handled the starting point guard duties and had nine points and three assists with one steal in 18 minutes.
“I love playing with Jovi,” Flavell said. “It has been super cool seeing her come from last year and this was her first full summer that she’s had with us so I think it’s pretty cool. This is her last year so I’m really excited for her. She really suits the style of play.”
Hawaii shot 67% (10-for-15) in the opening quarter from the field and led 10-0 in points off of turnovers after forcing seven by the Sharks.
Flavell and Bond each had nine points to lead the way and Lefotu closed the quarter with a driving left-handed layup to put Hawaii ahead 27-7.
UH had already emptied the bench by the end of the first quarter.
Tamilo exerted herself in the post and showed some added physicality to her game in the second quarter.
She finished the half with 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks in less than nine minutes played
Newcomer Zyriah Price made one of two free throws to give UH its largest lead of the half before a 3-pointer by the Sharks’ Ng made it 48-20 at intermission.
Tamilo added two more blocks in one possession after checking back into the game late in the third quarter.
Flavell made all three shot attempts she took in the quarter to push the Hawaii lead to 71-29 after three quarters.
Liz Udeze made two free throws with less than 30 seconds remaining to get the Rainbow Wahine to 90 points.
Hawaii begins the regular season on the road at Oregon on Nov. 2.