The official attendance for Saturday’s Hawaii women’s basketball game promoted as “Beeman’s Bigger Bash” ended up at 2,978 fans — much less than the 4,080 people that came through the gates for the original “Beeman’s Big Bash” a year ago against UC Santa Barbara.
You never would have known it inside of a raucous SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center where the cheers and screams of a rowdy bunch gave it the feel of a College GameDay atmosphere.
I’m still not quite sure how the roar of a crowd in a building more than 50 percent empty could sound the way it did down the stretch of the Rainbow Wahine’s 46-42 win over UC Irvine to move into a first-place tie in the Big West just seven games after starting conference play 0-2.
The media-assigned seating location is directly to the right of the UH band, so I’m used to not being able to hear anything out of my left ear.
My right ear could barely hear the final buzzer as the celebration of a monster win over the defending champions began 3.8 seconds earlier when Ritorya Tamilo emphatically blocked a 3-point shot out of bounds.
Walking out of the arena an hour later toward where my car was parked, it was back to normal on a chilly Saturday night by Hawaii standards.
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The parking lot had emptied, the arena workers were busy getting the floor ready for the next event the following day, and the last couple of players finishing their postgame meals were slowly walking out the door after another physical encounter.
That’s when that number popped back into my head: 2,978. It’s an impressive draw for women’s basketball compared to the rest of the season.
But why isn’t it the norm?
I don’t think it’s an insult to call the majority of University of Hawaii supporters fair-weather fans.
When UH baseball teams were struggling in the mid 2010’s under Mike Trapasso, tickets issued were well north of 2,000 and yet there were many nights the tickets through the turnstiles were less than 1,000.
We keep hearing about a future stadium being built with a seating capacity of 25,000, but name me a UH football game at Ching Complex that has seen a demand even close to that number.
Thursday’s UH women’s basketball win over UC Davis — the team that stunned the Rainbow Wahine in the semifinals of the Big West tournament last season, ending the possibility of a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance — was attended by less than 900 fans.
Really?
What am I missing here? I started covering the women’s basketball team last season and quickly realized this was a hidden gem of fun activities one could attend on a Saturday night.
It probably helped that the team went 11-0 in home games I covered that season and is 18-0 in games I’ve covered at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
No, I’m not taking any credit for the team’s success, but I’m just saying, you aren’t going home unhappy if you attend a home game.
Hawaii is lucky to have a coach like Laura Beeman still here in her 13th season in charge of the Rainbow Wahine basketball program.
Since she was hired in 2012 to be the eighth head coach in program history, Beeman has guided the team to three conference championships, four regular-season titles, and nine postseason berths, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
She’s 213-165 in her tenure at UH and has won more than 600 games, including her time spent at Mt. San Antonio College.
It’s a minor miracle some big-name school hasn’t come along and snagged her away.
This year’s team was supposed to be the culmination of recruiting classes and the COVID-19 pandemic season allowing Hawaii to solidify one of the most impressive senior classes ever.
But nothing ever comes easy to this program it seems. Jacque David, an intimidating post presence, was forced to medically retire earlier this season, and UH was dealt a major blow when returning Sixth Player of the Year Daejah Phillips was ruled out for personal reasons six games ago, and is no longer an active member of the Rainbow Wahine basketball program.
Time and time again, this group of women could throw their hands up and be done with the unlucky health misfortunes they have consistently gone through.
But they just keep chugging.
Ritorya Tamilo, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Auckland, New Zealand, has handled the shockingly incompetent way she has been treated by referees better than you and I would. It culminated in the first double-double of her career on Saturday with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
The team is represented locally by four players, including starting All-Big West point guard Lily Wahinekapu, who has taken her game to greater heights since the start of the conference season and leads the team in scoring.
With younger sister Jovi Lefotu also getting back to form, the team has a real 1-2 local-flavored punch that usually always brings in fans.
Hawaii went through an incredibly tough stretch in December and early January, both on and off the court, and yet is in a three-way tie for first place in the Big West after winning seven straight games.
They have the senior leader from Hawaii, they have an impressive fun group of players who play the game at a different level, and their defense is top-10 good in the country.
Following Saturday’s win over UC Irvine, UH has only five home games left. It shouldn’t take a marketed “Beeman’s Bash” to get fans to the arena, because this team is much better than that.
Hawaii women’s basketball is a program worth rallying around, and it could make the difference in whether UH gets back to the NCAA Tournament this season or not.
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Reach Billy Hull at bhull@staradvertiser.com.