Box Score

LAS VEGAS – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine basketball team gave its best shot before falling to Louisiana Tech, 63-54 in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at the Orleans Arena. UH ended the season with an 11-19 mark.
 
The No. 6 seed Rainbow Wahine had a prime chance to advance to the tournament semifinals for the first time in nine years, leading the No. 3 Lady Techsters ((16-14) with six minutes remaining. But in a game of runs, Louisiana Tech made the last and decisive one to hand UH it third straight loss to end the season.
 
All-WAC forward Kamilah Jackson led UH with 17 points and 16 rebounds before fouling out with 17 seconds remaining. It was the sophomore's 16^th double-double of the season.  Vicky Tagalicod added 13 points and five rebounds, while Alissa Campanero chipped in 12 points.
 
Jasmine Bendolph led the Lady Techsters with a game-high 20 points, while Shantale Bramble-Donaldson had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The game was nip-and-tuck for much of the first half with UH holding a 23-18 lead with 6:51 left. But the 'Bows went cold the rest of the half and the Lady Techsters went on an 8-2 run to take a slim 26-25 advantage into the locker room. La Tech shot just 26 percent in the first half, but grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored nine second-chance points to stay in the game.
 
The second half was again back-and-forth. UH went without a field goal for nearly seven minutes of the second half and the Lady Techsters used a 10-2 run to stake a 38-31 lead. But UH came back strong with a 13-4 run of its own, capped by a Breanna Arbuckle, layup to re-seize the lead, 44-42 with 6:12 left.
 
However, La Tech scored seven straight points to take the lead for good and sealed the game on the free throw line where they scored 12 of its final 14 points. For the game, the Lady Techsters nailed 18-of-21 from the line.
 
UH had swept the regular-season series against La Tech—a school first—but couldn't pull off the trifecta, instead dropping its final WAC Tournament game before joining the Big West next year. It was the program's 10^th loss in its last 11 tournament contests.
 
The game also marked the final appearance for Rainbow Wahine seniors Arbuckle, Rebecca Dew, Courtney Gaddis and Carlotta Mingo.