When one team shoots better than another — especially from distance — it’s easy to say the ball was just falling their way on this day.

But Hawaii coach Laura Beeman was having none of that after Vermont went from passing the turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving to passing the basketball to the open shooter on Black Friday.

“They exposed us in some areas. … Several times they made an extra pass and made one more,” Beeman said. “Their ball had a lot of energy today.”

The Catamounts found the open shooters, and those shooters responded by making nine of 20 3-pointers while the Rainbow Wahine made just four of 21 from beyond the arc.

And Vermont center Nikola Pried was effective from short range. She was game-high with 18 points and team-high with eight rebounds, leading Vermont past previously unbeaten Hawaii 73-67 on the first day of the American Savings Rainbow Wahine Showdown at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Malia Lenz was 4-for-7 from distance, and scored 14 for the visitors.

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UH (4-1) led 34-33 at halftime, but Vermont took control with a 24-13 third quarter and held on down the stretch to improve to 5-2.

Freshman Keiara Curtis led the Wahine with a five-game career-high 16 points, playing 25 minutes, 12 seconds off the bench. She and sophomore Kira-May Filemu (eight points in 15:37) were the biggest reasons Hawaii’s non-starters outscored their Vermont counterparts 42-10. In fact, they outscored the Wahine starting five by 25.

“We have a lot of depth,” Beeman said. “Getting points from our bench is not a surprise. We just have to be a little more consistent. … Your depth is only as good as the execution it brings.”

After an early 13-4 run, Vermont led 30-21 with 4:08 left before halftime.

The Wahine rallied to score 13 of the final 16 points before the break, with Filemu leading the run with both of her 3-pointers and a follow-up layup. A Catamount layup was ruled to be after the buzzer, and UH led 34-33 at the break.

Vermont went up on Keira Hanson’s 3-pointer for the first points of the third quarter and the visitors never trailed thereafter.

Catherine Gilwee’s 15-foot runner at the buzzer put Vermont up 57-47 headed into the final period.

The Catamounts led 69-58 with 2:10 left in the game, but UH rallied to score the next seven points, and trailed just 70-67 after Curtis made two free throws with 11 seconds left.

Hawaii was left with no options but to foul. Gilwee made two free throws with 10 seconds left, and Emma Haan made one with five seconds left.

Ten players logged at least 10 minutes for UH, as Beeman continues to assess which combinations work best together on a team with more newcomers (eight) than returnees (seven).

“The best thing about this is it’s a tournament and we can bounce back tomorrow,” said freshman guard Bailey Flavell, who led UH with 30 minutes, 35 seconds and four assists, and the starters with 15 points.

In the tournament’s first game, Sophie Glancey made 10 of 12 shots from the floor on the way to a season-high 24 points to lead Santa Clara (6-2) past Lindenwood (4-2).

The three-day round robin continues with a noon start Saturday between Vermont and Santa Clara, followed by UH and Lindenwood at 2:30 p.m.

VERMONT 73, HAWAII 67

CATAMOUNTS (5-2)

NO. PLAYER PTS FG-A 3PT-A FT-A OR DR REB A PF TO BL ST MIN +/-

0 Lenz, Malia 14 5-8 4-7 0-0 2 2 4 2 2 2 0 0 35 5

12 Hanson 12 5-12 2-4 0-0 1 2 3 1 3 1 1 2 34 4

14 Gilwee 6 2-6 0-3 2-2 2 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 33 4

24 Weltz 13 5-12 2-4 1-2 2 4 6 2 4 0 0 3 28 12

25 Priede 18 7-16 0-0 4-7 1 7 8 3 2 3 1 2 37 0

1 Hosier 0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 11 -2

3 Haan 4 1-2 1-2 1-2 0 2 2 0 3 0 0 0 14 0

33 Creal 6 3-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 7

TEAM 2 3 5 1

Totals 73 28-61 9-20 8-13 11 21 32 10 19 8 2 7 200

Percentages 45.9 45.0 61.5

RAINBOW WAHINE (4-1)

NO. PLAYER PTS FG-A 3PT-A FT-A OR DR REB A PF TO BL ST MIN +/-

2 Bond 0 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 16 -2

3 Flavell 15 6-12 0-3 3-5 0 2 2 4 4 3 0 0 31 -11

8 Moors 4 2-5 0-2 0-0 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 11 -2

12 Perez 4 1-2 0-0 2-2 3 7 10 2 1 2 2 0 27 -2

33 Neverson 2 0-4 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 0 2 1 0 0 21 -8

1 Filemu 8 3-6 2-5 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 0

6 Webb 5 2-5 0-0 1-1 3 3 6 0 4 2 0 1 15 -2

10 Kujovic 0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 8 -6

11 Curtis 16 4-9 2-6 6-6 1 3 4 1 2 2 0 0 25 -6

20 Forsyth 3 1-4 0-2 1-1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 8

22 Peacock 4 2-2 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 5

24 Tamilo 6 0-0 0-0 6-6 0 2 2 0 1 2 1 0 13 -4

TEAM 2 1 3

Totals 67 21-53 4-21 21-24 12 22 34 10 16 14 4 2 200

Percentages 39.6 19.0 87.5

Score By Period

VERMONT 14 19 24 16 – 73

HAWAII 12 22 13 20 – 67

Technical fouls — none. Officials — Ashley Ellis, Clifford Sims, Pete Arceo. A — 1,680.