Kawehi Hagi’s (FR. Kapolei, HI) game high 25-points help lead the Raiders past Tacoma claiming the 73-59 victory. The Raiders improved to 2-0 in Western Region play and 8-4 overall while Tacoma fell to 0-1 and 3-7 respectively.
Hagi seemed to struggle from the floor shooting 5-for-19 but she was able to get to the basket at will although having difficulty finishing
at the rim. In a zone at the free-throw line Hagi made 14 of her 15 attempted free throws to go along with her eight rebounds, four assist and two steals. Hagi scored 16 of her 25 points in a scoring flurry during the opening minutes of the half.
The Raiders had their fab- four in double digit scoring yet again this season and Taylor Riley (SO. Kent, WA) notched another double-double. Riley had 15-points on 6-for-12 shooting and grabbed 11 boards. Unique Taufa’asau inked her second double-double of the season snatching 12 rebounds and shipping in 13-points. Hayley Hancock (SO. Eatonville, WA) continues to play string music with the nets draining 3-of-8 three pointers for 13-points and has made a Western Region league best 30 threes on the season.
Going into halftime the score was tied at 30-30. This game seemed as if it was going to come down to the wire but the Raiders as usual ignited a fierce comeback scoring on nine of their first 10 possessions of the half and never looked back. The Raiders forced 30 Titan turnovers scoring 39-points off those miscues.
“We came into the game not focused and too relaxed allowing Tacoma to stay in the game. It was a very close game to start but shouldn’t have been. We didn’t execute our plays very well and went away from our game plan. We picked up our tempo in the second half and played our game” said Hagi.