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VIDEO: Game Recap (courtesy of Ka Leo O Hawai'i)

HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team  held off Long Beach State for a 65-57 win on Sunday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Junior forward Kamilah Martin poured in a season-high 27 points with a game-high 13 rebounds. Hawai`i improves to 7-8 overall and stays in a tie for second-place in the Big West with a 3-1 conference record while LBSU falls to 9-7 overall and 2-2 in conference.
 
Martin went 11-for-18 from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. It marked her sixth double-double of the season; 35th of her career; and first in Big West action. She tied her season-high with six offensive rebounds and also contributed with two assists and a steal. With her 27 points tonight, Martin needs just 34 points to become the 17th Rainbow Wahine to hit the 1,000 point milestone. Her seven defensive boards tonight tied her with Christen Roper for fourth place in UH history with 498 defensive rebounds and she is also just four rebounds shy of tying Tanya Smith for third place all-time in UH history with 816 overall rebounds and she is now just two offensive boards away from tying Smith at 302 for second all-time for UH. Rookie guard Ashleigh Karaitiana also notched double-digits in points with 11, shooting 4-for-8 in field goals and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. She also had three rebounds and two assists in the game. All seven UH players who got into the game scored at least two points. Monica DeAngelis dished out four assists while Sydney Haydel had a team-high two steals.
 
As a team, the 'Bows were out-rebounded in the first half, 20-to-19 with a 13-to-5 advantage in offensive boards. But in the second half, the 'Bows battled back on the glass were able to out-rebound the taller 49ers 38-to-35 overall and out-muscle LBSU  42-to-38 in points in the paint. UH's defense held Long Beach State to just 1-of-24 from 3-point land for 4% and held them to a conference season low field-goal percentage of .314 for the game.
 
Hawai`i took an early lead to start the game only to see the 49ers charge back on a 7-to-2 run that gave the visitors a 17-12 lead with 10:17 left in the half. But UH battled back with a 7-0 run of their own to retake the lead at 19-17 with 7:08 left. The game was tied just once more at 19-19 before UH took the lead and never looked back as they led the rest of the way.
 
Hawai`i went into the half with a 27-23 lead with Martin leading all-scorers with 11 points and a team-high five rebounds while Kuehu added six points off the bench.
 
In the second half, Long Beach State kept grinding it out and cut their deficit to just four points late in the second half with 3:43 left on a jumper by Devin Hudson, but UH responded on an 8-to-1 run that gave the 'Bows the advantage late. Karaitiana made a lay-up in the paint on an assist by Martin with the foul and made the free throw to give UH a nine point lead with less than a minute to go. UH made four-out-of-five free throws with less than a minute left to seal the win.
 
LBSU was led by Bianka Balthazar's 17 points and Hudson's 16. Hudson also had a team-high nine rebounds. 

It is the first time this season that the 'Bows have been able to win three-straight games. UH is now 3-1 in conference for the second-straight season, albeit in a different conference with a different coaching staff.
 
Earlier in the day, the 2013 Alumnae Game took place with the White and Black teams ending in a tie, 34-34. The White team held the lead through most of the game, but the Black came charging back in the second half, erasing a 10 point lead. Courtney Gaddis led the white team with eight points while Ki`i Spencer-Vasconcellos led all scorers with 10. UH All-American Nani Cockett represented all of the Alumnae serving as tonight's game's Honorary Captain.