Box Score

HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (8-15, 2-8 WAC) fell behind early but made a furious second half comeback to overtake and defeat Idaho (12-9, 5-4 WAC) 72-60 on Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Shawna-Lei Kuehu led the 'Bows with 15 points and Kamilah Jackson had a game-high eight rebounds.

 

The 'Bows trailed the Vandals the entire first half and halfway through the second half before UH was able to overtake Idaho with 9:41 left in the game. Hawai`i never looked back and eventually pulled away, building a 17 point lead on clutch shooting and solid defense. But Idaho sunk two late 3-point shots to cut their deficit to 12. Hawai`i's .538 field goal percentage was a WAC season-high as they sunk 28-of-52 shots from the floor.

 

The 'Bows dominated in the paint, outscoring Idaho, 50-20 in the key and UH edged the Vandals 35-33 in rebounding. UH finally won the “points off of turnovers” battle, 22-11 and outscored UI in second-chance points with 15 to Idaho's 8. For the third straight game, UH's bench logged serious minutes and contributed 22 points. Sydney Haydel and Allie Patterson led the reserves with nine points a piece. For Haydel, it was a career-high in points and she also hustled for a career-high five rebounds as well.

 

Kuehu posted strong numbers across the board with six rebounds (one offensive and five defensive), three assists, three blocks and tied her career-high with four steals. She went 7-for-11 in field goals. Jackson added 12 clutch points, going 4-for-7 from the floor and was 4-of-5 from the free-throw line while Megan Tinnin, Haydel, and Patterson all contributed nine points each.

 

Idaho's Rachele Kloke led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting with a pair of treys. No other Vandal scored in double figures. Yinka Olorunnife led Idaho with eight rebounds.

 

The Rainbow Wahine avenged their drubbing from earlier this year in Moscow, 48-72 (Jan. 13) and is now 10-4 all time against Idaho.

 

Hawai`i now hits the road for an important three-game roadtrip starting at Nevada on Feb. 12 at 7:00 pm. The road swing continues with a game at New Mexico State on Feb. 15 and finishes in Ruston, La. against Louisiana Tech on Feb. 17.

 

Earlier in the evening during the annual Rainbow Wahine Alumnae Game, the Green and White Teams ended the game in a 41-41 tie. Tania (Brunton) Tupu (who flew in from New Zealand) led all scorers with 16 points and three 3-pointers for the Green team, while the white team was led by the tandem of Catherine Cho and Amber Lee who both had 11 points a piece. In all, almost 40 alumnae participated in the annual game and were honored at halftime during the current Rainbow Wahine's game.

                                                                                                                         -UH-