Box Score

HONOLULU - The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team played step-for-step with WAC leader Fresno State for 35 minutes Thursday night. But the Bulldogs pulled away down the stretch, leading to a 75-62 loss for the Rainbow Wahine at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine had a three-point lead over the Bulldogs with 11:59 left in the game, but after Fresno State took over the lead at the 11-minute mark, UH could never recover. UH cut the lead to five points with 3:40 left, but once again Fresno State made a run and pushed the lead to double-digits.

With the loss, UH falls to 9-15 overall and 3-8 in conference play. Fresno State stays atop the WAC standings with the win at 11-1 and improves to 16-9 overall.

Offensively the Rainbow Wahine had four players score in double figures and had 12 steals on the defensive end, forcing Fresno State into 25 turnovers.

Tara Hittle recorded a double-double for the first time in her career with 10 points and 12 rebounds, including nine offensive boards. Tanya Smith scored a game-high 16 points and added seven rebounds. Megan Tinnin had 14 points, including four 3-pointers and Keisha Kanekoa came off the bench to score 10 points.

As a team the Rainbow Wahine shot 38.7 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from long range. Fresno State shot 47.4 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from 3-point range.

In the opening half, both teams played back-and-forth, with Fresno State hitting a 3-pointer right at the end of the half to take a 36-33 lead into the break.

The offensive was led by Tinnin, who scored all of her 14 points in the opening frame. Tinnin went 4 for 7 from long range, playing 19 minutes. Smith only had one point for UH at half, but exploded for 15 in the second.

The Rainbow Wahine return to action Saturday night when they host San Jose State. Tip-off for the game is at 7 p.m. from the Stan Sheriff Center. UH concludes a four-game homestand Saturday and have only two more home games when they return from a two-game road trip.

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