Box Score  (xml)  |  Box Score (html)

HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (2-6, 0-0 Big West) mounted an epic charge in the second half and came up just short against Utah, 62-61. Kamilah Martin led UH with a team-high 22 points and was tied for the game-high with seven rebounds with teammate Ashleigh Karaitiana who added 12 points. Utah, of the PAC-12 conference, remained undefeated and raised their record to 7-0.
 
It was a tale of two very different halves for the Rainbow Wahine. In the first 20 minutes, Hawai`i battled early on and actually had a one-point lead at 11-10 with 11:09 left on the clock. But then UH started to struggle to execute on offense and on defense allowing the Utes to go on a 19-to-3 run in the next nine minutes. UH shot 29.2% (7-for-24) from the floor and got out-rebounded 19-to-10 with no offensive boards. Utah dominated the 'Bows in the paint, 22-to-6 while the Utes were able to convert 12 points off of UH's seven turnovers. Hawai'i trailed by as much as 16 points to end the half at 34-18.
 
But in the second half, Hawai`i fought back and battled Utah hard, outscoring them 43-to-28 and ending the game on a 16-2 run with a chance to win with three seconds left on the clock. Late in the game, the Utes struggled to adjust to UH's pressure defense that forced three turnovers in the last two minutes that allowed the 'Bows to continue to close the gap with time ticking down. With UH trailing 62-58, Vicky Tagalicod drained a 3-point shot to cut their deficit to one point with six seconds left. UH immediately fouled but Utah's Rachel Messer missed the front end of the one-and-one and UH came down the court with three seconds and a chance to win, but was unable to get a shot off as time expired. In the second half alone, UH out-rebounded Utah 21-to-10 with eight coming on the offensive glass which led to 10 second-chance points for UH. Hawai`i improved to shoot 13-for-48 for a 46.4 field goal percentage and the 'Bows were much more aggressive in driving to the basket, outscoring the Utes 22-to-10 in the paint in the last 20 minutes. Hawai`i forced Utah into 10 turnovers while committing just four and was able to shoot 15-of-17 free throws that helped the 'Bows cut into Utah's lead with no time coming off the clock. Martin led the charge with 15 points while Karaitiana and Destiny King both tallied 10 points apiece in the second half.
 
Hawai`i ended up out-rebounding Utah for the game, 31-to-29, holding them to just 10 in the second half. The 'Bows committed a season-low 10 turnovers while forcing 14 that led to UH outscoring Utah in points off of turnovers, 19-to-16 while the bench outscored the Utes' reserves 10-to-2.
 
Martin shot 8-of-16 from the floor with her first trey of the season. She was also 5-of-5 from the free throw line. It marked the third time in two weeks that she has scored over 20 points and sixth time that she has led UH in scoring this year. Her seven rebounds pushed her past Christien Roper for fifth place in UH career record book with 729 in just over two seasons. Roper, who played for UH from 2000-03, logged 724 career boards. Martin has led or co-led UH in rebounds in every game thus far this season.
 
Karaitiana was an efficient 4-for-7 in field goals and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe for 12 points. She also dished out a team-high three assists and had a steal. King scored all 10 of her points in the second half with eight of her 10 points coming from the free-throw line.
 
Taryn Wicijowski led Utah with a game-high 26 points while Michelle Plouffe and Iwalani Rodrigues added 14 and 13 points respectively.
 
Hawai`i's next time on the court is an exhibition game against in-state rival Hawai`i Pacific on Dec. 18.