HONOLULU — So locked in is the Hawaii women’s basketball team that right now it can  lose critical pieces and still find a way to complete the puzzle.

With senior point guard Lily Wahinekapu missing her first game of the season due to an illness, the rest of the Rainbow Wahine — especially her sister Jovi Lefotu — picked up the slack in a 67-43 rout of visiting Cal Poly on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH (16-6, 10-2 Big West) won its 10^th straight game in front of a crowd of 865 (1,672 tickets issued) and moved a half-game ahead of idle co-leader UC Irvine with eight games left in the regular season. It is the program’s longest streak since it strung together 15 in 2015.

“I think with this 10-win streak, like the all the adversity that we'd faced throughout the season, I think we've done a good job of proving to ourselves that we can do it,” said Lefotu, who put in a career-best 15 points in just 16 minutes of court time.

UH continues to do it without senior guard Daejah Phillips, who was classified as “indefinitely inactive” before the second game of the streak, though the guard has attended UH’s recent home games from the stands. In addition, forward Jacque David, another piece from UH’s championship teams of recent years, took a medical retirement this season.

Winning without Phillips was one thing, but doing it without UH’s other primary shot creator as well?

“I think the person who probably was the most frustrated tonight not being able to play was Lily. I think I heard her screaming all the way from Kaneohe,” coach Laura Beeman quipped.

In her more serious dissection of the game, Beeman said UH was unable to separate in the first half because its intensity was subpar.

“(Lily) gives us a lot of juice, because she can rebound and run,” Beeman said. “And I think we just had to kind of figure out that we were going to be just fine without her.

“I think it's nice that, once again, we're not fully loaded and we're just able to get things done and someone else steps up for this program.”

Kelsie Imai got the starting nod in Wahinekapu’s stead and had nine points and two assists. Portland State transfer Mia ‘Uhila also shouldered some ball-handling duties and had 11 points and three assists against seven turnovers.

"Just understanding that in transition is really where I thrive, and then putting pressure on the defense and, you know, trying to get to the free throw line really," said ‘Uhila, who was 5-for-5 at the stripe.

Meanwhile, Lefotu maximized her court time. She shot 4-for-5 from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line, and chipped in three steals and two assists.

Center Ritorya Tamilo had 13 points and seven rebounds in under 20 minutes while Brooklyn Rewers had 11 points, nine boards and two blocks.

The Wahine led by just four at halftime but dialed up their intensity in the second half and shot 13-for-19 in the second half — nearly 70%.

While both teams committed 19 turnovers, UH did a much better job of limiting the damage from them and won the points off giveaways stat decisively, 22-8.

Lefotu’s flashy left-handed layup, in which she held the ball high and wide of her body as she took it in off the glass, seemed to signal that the rout was on.

“I think I just always like going to my left and feel really comfortable getting my left hand layup,” Lefotu said.

She hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter for good measure.

UH’s imposing posts, including forward Imani Perez, were again a huge factor defensively, dissuading the Mustangs (10-12, 5-7) from going right to the rim. Guard Annika Shah scored a team-high 12 points on 5-for-18 shooting.

Beeman said the emphasis was to make Shah feel rushed on her attempts. The dangerous 3-point shooter was 1-for-7 from long range while the rest of the Mustangs were 0-for-11 from deep.

The Wahine host UC Santa Barbara (13-9, 7-5) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Gauchos were the last team to beat the Wahine on Jan. 2. Beeman noted Imai, Perez and Lefotu were all unavailable for that one.

"I think that that's a pretty good chunk of change on our bench," she said.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.