Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas--Hawaii gave a spirited effort but saw its upset bid of Rice fall short, 58-56, Saturday night at Autry Court. The Rainbow Wahine dropped to 7-18 and 5-11 in the WAC with its fourth straight road loss.

Lindsey Maynard's two free throws with 22 seconds left proved to be the difference for the first-place Lady Owls (18-7, 15-1), who escaped with its 12th school-record straight win. UH had one last possession to send the game into overtime but freshman Pam Tambini had two straight close-range attempts blocked by Lauren Neeves in the final seconds. The Rainbow Wahine retained possession with less than a second after the ball went out of bounds but were unable to get a shot off.

The Rainbow Wahine, who have lost four straight times to the Lady Owls, continued their struggles in Houston where they are 0-6 all-time. The loss also kept UH in seventh place in the conference, a game behind San Jose State. The Rainbow Wahine, who are jockeying for position need to win its final two homes games and two Spartan losses to avoid a "play-in" game and gain a spot in the quarterfinals in next month's WAC Tournament in Fresno, Calif.

Hawaii used explosive starts during the beginning of each half to send Rice reeling. UH started the game on a 14-4 run and game out of the locker room in the second half with a 16-4 run. The Rainbow Wahine, however, couldn't close the deal.

After scoring 14 points in the first five minutes of the game to take an early double-digit lead, UH managed just 11 points the rest of the half as Rice took a 28-25 lead at the break. Hawaii stormed out in the second half to take a nine-point lead and have Rice playing catch-up for the last 16 minutes of the game. Hawaii maintained a 49-40 lead with nine minutes left in the game, but that's when Rice made its move. UH would score just seven more points, including only two more field goals, the rest of the way, allowing the Lady Owls to creep back.

UH shot just 35 percent from the field, but created opportunities off of a season-high 12 steals. The Lady Owls shot 44 percent from the floor, but hit just 1-of-10 from 3-point land.

Brittany Grice led Hawaii with a career-high 15 points and added four rebounds. Jade Abele was the only other Rainbow Wahine in double-figures with 10 points. Michelle Woods led Rice with 16 points, while Elisa Inman added 15.

Hawaii returns home for its final two regular-season games. First up is Nevada on Thursday, March 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.