WSU will say ‘aloha’ to the Rainbow Wahine Classic.

Just as snow begins to threaten the Cougars’ natural habitat in Pullman, the WSU women’s basketball team will escape the cold and play in the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Cougars will play three games over the weekend, starting with a matchup Friday versus the event hosts, the University of Hawaii. On Saturday, the Cougars will clash with West Virginia, and on Sunday they will close the showcase with a game against Ole Miss.

“This is the most prestigious tournament that the University of Hawaii runs, and we are privileged to be invited to it, first and foremost,” WSU Head Coach June Daugherty said. “So, we thank Hawaii for this opportunity.”

Dawnyelle Awa and Lia Galdeira, a pair of sophomore guards for the Cougars, are both natives of Hawaii.

“Obviously, with two of our players being from The Big Island, they’re going to have, I’m sure, a great fan presence there,” Daugherty said.

She said she knows that while returning home Awa and Galdeira will naturally have to deal with more than just a basketball game.

“We’re going to have to help them eliminate some distractions of tickets and all the things that happen when you go on the road,” she said. “They aren’t used to having hundreds of tickets to get to the game, so this will be a good challenge.”

The team hopes to not get caught up in the hype surrounding the visit, and Daugherty said the ultimate goal is to sweep the three opponents and end the tournament victorious.

The Cougars will expect to bring a level of focus to the weekend by following a classic mantra. 

“All the hard work will hopefully pay off for us, but we certainly have to focus, obviously, one game at a time,” Daugherty said.

Washington State’s focus will initially rest on stopping the University of Hawaii. Hawaii (1-1, 0-0) is coming off a season-opening loss on the road to Arizona State, followed by their first win over Northern Arizona. The Cougars will be the second of four Pac-12 opponents the Rainbow Wahine will face this season.

Similarly to Daugherty and the Cougars, Hawaii uses a deep rotation of players throughout each game with 11 players on the Rainbow Wahine roster seeing playing time this season.

WSU will have to focus on UH’s senior forward Kamilah Jackson, who is averaging 14 points and seven rebounds per game. She is on pace to become just the second Rainbow Wahine to secure 1,000 career rebounds, so people can expect the Cougars to try and keep her off the glass.

On a quick turnaround, the WSU team will wake up Saturday and prepare to play West Virginia. The Mountaineers (0-1, 0-0) are coming off a season-opening loss to Ohio State shooting 10 percent from three-point range in their loss.

The Mountaineers are led by senior guard Christal Caldwell, who scored 17 in the season-opener. Another player, senior center Asya Bussie, will also look to make her presence felt. She averages 14 points and nine rebounds per game for WVU. Junior forward Averee Fields will be another to watch out for on Saturday. She secured 11 rebounds in the loss to the Buckeyes.

Finally, the WSU team will wrap up Sunday when it faces Ole Miss. The Rebels (1-1, 0-0) are coming off a runaway win against Jacksonville State and nail-biting loss to Central Arkansas, 66-63.

Ole Miss is led by first-year Head Coach Matt Insell and a senior-junior duo at the forward and guard positions. Senior point guard Valencia McFarland and junior forward Tia Faleru are two players WSU will try to slow down. The tandem averages 14 points per game, each. McFarland also leads the Rebels in steals, while Faleru is the team’s leading rebounder.

Game times are set for all three contests. WSU will close the first day of action with a 9 p.m. tip, followed by a 2 p.m. start Saturday and a 4:30 p.m. start Sunday (Pacific Standard Time). Steve Grubbs will call all the Cougar action live on KHTR (104.3 FM), KQQQ (1150 AM). A live video stream will also be available through the UH website at bigwest.org/tv.