Box Score

RENO, Nev. - Hawaii kicked off the 2006 Western Athletic Conference season with a nail-biting 79-74 win over Nevada Thursday night at Lawlor Events Center. The Rainbow Wahine (10-2, 1-0 WAC) watched a double-digit lead disappear in the second half, but battled back to notch their eighth straight win.

Janevia Taylor led four Rainbow Wahine in double-figures with 20 points, tying her season-high. Tanya Smith set a career-high with 16 points, while Amy Sanders and Alofa Toiaivao each contributed 14. UH's eight-game streak is its longest since the 2000 WAC season.

Hawaii led for the majority of the game and had built a 14-point lead early in the second half. However, a Traci Graham 3-pointer with just under three minutes left put the Wolf Pack ahead, 71-69. UH responded by scoring the next six points and sealed he game with a pair of Sanders free throws with four seconds left.

Nevada (3-9, 0-1 WAC) lost despite a monumental effort by sophomore Meghan McGuire, who poured in a career-high 28 points. McGuire almost single-handedly brought the Wolf Pack back and at one point scored 11 consecutive Nevada points. UH, however stopped McGuire when they needed to the most as Toiaivao's block of a McGuire 3-point attempt with 26 seconds left helped protect a 77-74 UH lead.

Early on it was a tight contest. The game was knotted, 17-17, with seven minutes left in the first half, but UH used a 12-2 run over the next two minutes to quickly build a double-digit lead. The Rainbow Wahine led by as many as 11, before taking a 37-28 lead in the locker room and scored the first five points of the second half to lead, 42-28.

Nevada shot 55 percent from the floor and nailed 8-of-9 free throws in the second half to help fuel the comeback, but could not content with UH's size inside as the Rainbow Wahine enjoyed a 41-28 advantage on the boards. Hawaii next returns home for a critical early-season matchup with Louisiana Tech. The Rainbow Wahine upset the Lady Techsters in last year's meeting in Honolulu. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 12.

-uh-