The Hawaii women’s basketball team opened the Maui Classic with a win over Liberty, with Imani Perez scoring 14 points and the team making 13 three-pointers at 40.6% accuracy. Keiara Curtis added 13 points off the bench, and the victory gave Liberty their second consecutive loss despite being ranked No. 10 in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top 25, according to Star-Advertiser.
Hawaii lost their next game against Montana State, unable to carry over the momentum from the Liberty win. Turnovers and defensive issues contributed to the defeat.
Montana State defeated Hawaii, forcing the Rainbow Wahine into 29 turnovers and gaining a 31-11 advantage in points off turnovers. UH coach Laura Beeman said, "I think it was a great weekend for us," and added, "(Going) 1-1 against the teams we played I think is a very good record." With the Big West schedule starting on January 1, 2026, Beeman said, "I didn’t expect to be 0-2 in conference, so we’ve dug a hole and we need to be able to get out of that hole to get ourselves back in the top three," as per Spectrum Local News. Hawaii, now 6-6, regrouped after the Christmas break to prepare for upcoming conference games.
