When the University of Hawaii women's basketball team takes a look at San Diego State, the Wahine see their own junior guard Nani "Maika" Cockett . . . only in duplicate.
"They have have a couple of Maikas out there," said senior guard Tiffany Fujimoto as Hawaii prepares to host WAC Pacific Division leader San Diego State tomorrow. "They're big and quick, know how to control the tempo. We don't want to get in a race with them.
"I was talking with one of their players (5-foot-11 Olivia DeCamilli) and she said her team is peaking. I told her we had some problems on the road but we're home. And very happy to be home."
Hawaii (12-4, 5-1) split on what is considered the toughest road swing in the conference last week, fading at Colorado State and defeating Wyoming in overtime.
San Diego State (12-5, 7-0) remained unbeaten in conference with a 75-42 win over visiting Texas-El Paso Wednesday.
The Aztecs are leading the WAC in scoring margin (+14.1) and defense, allowing 52.1 points a game. They are also first in turnover margin and second in steals.
"San Diego State is obviously a very good defensive team," said Hawaii coach Vince Goo. "They play pressure man defense and create a lot of turnovers. I think we match up with them pretty well defensively, it's pretty much what we run every day in practice.
"That was a tough road trip we had, one where we could have easily been 0-2. We feel we brought back a lot of heart and feel good about that. But, at 7-0, San Diego State is going to be feeling really good about themselves, too."
The Aztecs are solid, not flashy, with three starters scoring in double figures. The offense has revolved around 6-foot senior forward Jodi Nowlin-Tres (12.9 ppg), who leads the WAC in steals and is third in shooting percentage.
Making the team run is senior guard Sandy Wright, the conference leader in assists.
"This is going to be a very good challenge for us," said Fujimoto. "We need to stop their running game and not let them control the tempo.
"At the beginning of the season, Vince was questioning our effort and our heart. There are no questions now. People are stepping it up when they have to. There's more confidence, not the hesitation there was earlier."
Cockett leads Hawaii with a 19.4-point scoring average followed by center Kendis Leeburg (15.6 ppg).
Tomorrow: San DiegoState (12-5, 7-0 Western Athletic Conference) at Hawaii (12-4. 5-1), 3 p.m.