University of Hawaii athletics is asking fans for money during Giving Week, and for the women's basketball team that money goes straight into player recovery and nutrition — good news for a program that nearly won its conference title last season.

• Khalilah Mitchell is the new head coach of the Rainbow Wahine after serving as an assistant last season.
• The team won 22 games last year and lost the conference championship game, which kept it out of the NCAA tournament.
• Mitchell blames that loss on fatigue and is building the new season around a faster style of play and better recovery.
• Players are doing a preseason fitness challenge — minimum weekly workouts, 10,000 steps a day — with testing at the end of the month.
• With only 12 players on the roster, everyone will see court time, so donations aimed at nutrition and recovery matter more than usual.

Outlook: Donations this week fund the wellness and recovery support that will decide how the team holds up late in the season.