Hawaii water polo dominates UC San Diego in Big West semis

Apr. 28—1/1

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM.

UH's Lucia Gomez de la Puente pushes the ball up the pool on April 13.

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Lucia Gomez de la Puente and Lot Stertefeld each had three goals and three assists as the Hawaii women's water polo team used a fast start to beat UC San Diego 17-10 in Saturday's semifinals of the Big West Championship in Davis, Calif.

The Rainbow Wahine, ranked No. 2 in the country, scored on nine of their first 11 shots and took a 12-3 lead at halftime.

"I'm really proud of the way our team came out, they were on fire," UH coach Maureen Cole said in a UH press release. "We put the ball away early and played really well defensively."

Gomez de la Puente posted a hat trick for the eighth time in her career and Stertefeld for the fifth. Bernadette Doyle, Alba Bonamusa Boix, Jordan Wedderburn, Bia Mantellato Dias and Agatha Weston each added two goals for top-seeded Hawaii, which will make its sixth consecutive appearance in the Big West title game.

Daisy Logtens made nine saves for the Rainbow Wahine (21-3) against the No. 4 seeded Tritons (18-12).

Hawaii will face No. 3 seed Long Beach State in today's final at 9 a.m., with the winner clinching an automatic berth into the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship.

The Rainbow Wahine beat the host Beach 13-6 on April 7.

Long Beach State defeated two-time defending Big West champion UC Irvine 9-7 in Saturday's second semifinal.

UH softball splits against Beach

The University of Hawaii softball team split its doubleheader on Saturday against Long Beach State, winning the first game 8-0 and dropping the second game 3-1.

The Wahine scored six runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh during the first game at Long Beach State.

UH pitcher Key-annah Campbell-Pua recorded her first shutout of the season, improving her record to 6-7 on the season.

In the second game, LBSU's Sinclair Lawhorn hit a two-run double to put the Beach up 3-1 in the fifth inning.

Long Beach State improved to 21-27, 16-5 in the Big West. UH returns home with a record of 19-21 and 12-7 in the Big West. The Wahine will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.