University of Hawaii women’s basketball forward Amy Atwell was named the Big West Conference Player of the Year on Monday.
Atwell, the lone senior and unquestioned leader of the Rainbow Wahine, led the team to a 17-9 regular season, including a 13-3 mark in Big West play that won the team a regular season title with a win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
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Atwell is averaging 17.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Rainbow Wahine while also shooting an efficient 84.8 percent from the free throw line and 37.5 percent from 3. She is the first member of the program to win the conference Player of the Year since the ‘Bows moved from the WAC to the Big West prior to the 2012-2013 season.
Additionally, Hawaii head coach Laura Beeman was named the Big West Coach of the Year after leading the Rainbow Wahine to their first regular season conference title since the 2014-2015 season. It is Beeman’s first Coach of the Year award since 2015.
The ‘Bows have not made the NCAA tournament since 2016 but are in an advantageous position with the Big West’s top seed in this week’s tournament.
After last weekend’s wins, the Rainbow Wahine enter the Big West tournament as the top seed and open play on Wednesday.
The Rainbow Wahine await the winner of Tuesday’s 8-9 seed matchup between Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Northridge. Wednesday’s game for UH against either the Roadrunners or Matadors begins at 10 a.m. HST in Henderson, Nev. The entire tournament will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Additionally, ‘Iolani alumna and Cal State Fullerton guard Lily Wahinekapu was named Big West Freshman of the Year after averaging a team-high 14.5 points per game and 3.7 assists.