By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Destiny King scored 22 points, Diane Moore 15 and Kamilah Martin 14 to lead the University of Hawaii to a 72-47 win over the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Friday night.
The women’s exhibition basketball game was played at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. It was the debut for new Rainbow Wahine head coach Laura Beeman.
King, a 5-foot-10 freshman from Long Beach, Calif., hit 7 of 8 field goals on her way to her game-high 22 points for the NCAA Division I Rainbow Wahine. She also had six rebounds and three assists.
Moore, a 5-10 junior from Nagoya, Japan, followed with 15 points while the physical Martin had 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. UH outrebounded the smaller Vulcans 46-23.
“Offensively, we didn’t execute very well and our shot selection is not there yet,” UHH head coach David Kaneshiro said. “That’s to be expected with just two weeks of practice. But I saw some good things going on, and our execution is going to get better.
“I’m pleased with our effort, the girls played hard and didn’t hang their heads when UH extended the lead. We just kept playing hard and we’re going to get better.”
Senior guard Jameia McDuffie led the D-II Vulcans with 10 points and three steals. Senior forward Shannon Rosseau had nine points and junior Kamie Imai, a 5-9 transfer from Utah State, chipped in with eight points and six rebounds.
The Rainbow Wahine led 44-26 at the intermission before outscoring the Vuls 28-21 in the second half.
Former Big Island prep standouts Pua Kailiawa (3 points, 2 rebounds, 16 minutes) and Kanisha Bello (no points, 9 minutes) played for UH in the game while ex-Hilo High star Vicky Tagalicod sat out while recovering from an injury. Kailiawa played at Ka’u High and Bello at Waiakea and Kamehameha-Hawaii.
UH shot 47 percent (26 of 55) from the field, 40 percent (6 of 15) on 3-pointers and 82 percent (14 of 17) from the free-throw line compared to UHH’s 30 percent (16 of 54), 22 percent (6 of 27) and 60 percent (9 of 15), respectively.
The hosts also had 20 assists and 23 turnovers while the visitors had 7 assists and 18 turnovers.
“The Rainbow Wahine are a good team,” Kaneshiro said. “They should do pretty well this year.”
The Lady Vulcans play one more exhibition game — Nov. 3 vs. D. One — before opening their 2012-13 collegiate season in hosting Chaminade University in a preseason game on Nov. 17. D. One is a Hawaii team comprised of former collegiate players, including ex-UH standout Nani Cockett.
The D. One contest will be played at 5 p.m. at Kawananakoa Gym. The Chaminade game will be played at 3 p.m. at the UHH Gym.
The previously scheduled Alumnae game has been cancelled due to work being done at the UHH Gym.
• On the road: The UHH men’s basketball team, under coach Jeff Law, will leave Tuesday for Pittsburgh for exhibition games against NCAA Division I Pittsburgh (Nov. 2) and Duquesne (Nov. 4).
The Vulcans then play Western Oregon (Nov. 9) and St. Martin’s (Nov. 10) on their way back to the West Coast, then back to the Big Island.
UHH then takes on Maryville University on Nov. 19 at UHH Gym to open a three-game home stand.
At Stan Sheriff Center
UHH 26 21 — 47
UH 44 28 — 72
