Box Score

LOS ANGELES - The University of Hawaii women's basketball team used an 18-0 second half run to pull away from Grambling State, leading to a 71-53 victory in the consolation game of the Women of Troy Basketball Classic Friday night in Los Angeles.

Along with the second half run, the Rainbow Wahine had five players in double figures for the second straight game. They also received career nights from several players, including two off the bench.

In her first career start, junior Ebony Jones recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Catherine Cho recorded a career-high seven points and added three rebounds.

But one of the big sparks of the second half was senior Amy Kotani. Kotani scored a career-high 14 points, with all of them coming in the second half. Kotani also grabbed four rebounds, had five steals and added three assists.

"Amy really gave us a spark to start the second half," Head Coach Jim Bolla said. "I thought we did a much better job in the second half with the turnovers and that helped us pull away from Grambling State."

Senior Tanya Smith recorded her seventh double-double of the season and second straight in the classic. Smith had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Saundra Cariaga led the team with 15 points as the Rainbow Wahine improved to 5-6.

In the opening 20 minutes, UH jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but the Tigers came back strong, taking a 30-25 lead with 3:17 left. UH then cleared the bench, putting in reserve players to close the half, which helped the Rainbow Wahine go into halftime tied 34-34.

Offensively Saundra Cariaga led the way with eight points in the half. Ebony Jones, making her first start of the season for injured Dita Liepkalne, had seven points and six rebounds in 11 minutes.

Senior Tanya Smith had six points and eight rebounds and Catherine Cho had five points in four minutes.

As a team the Rainbow Wahine shot 35.3 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers. Grambling shot 31.6 percent from the field with 14 turnovers.

The Rainbow Wahine return to action December 28 in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational, facing UC Irvine at 7 p.m. in the second game of the day. William and Mary and Iona will square off in the first game at 5 p.m. in the Stan Sheriff Center.

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