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DAVIS, Calif.—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (8-9, 4-2 Big West) came through with a tough 71-63 win at UC Davis on Saturday afternoon. Junior forward Kamilah Martin scored 18 points and became just the 17th Rainbow Wahine to hit 1,000 points while rookie Ashleigh Karaitiana poured in a career-high 22 points to lead UH to the win at The Pavilion in Davis, Calif.
 
Martin had 984 points entering the contest. She scored just two points in the first half before early foul trouble held her out for the remainder of the half. Martin then broke out in the second half, posting 16 points en route to breaking the 1,000 point barrier. She is just the sixth Rainbow Wahine to reach the milestone in just her third year. She also moved into second place in UH history past Tanya Smith (2004-08) in offensive rebounds with four against UCD. She now has 306 for second place alone after entering the game tied with Smith at 302. UH's all-time leading offensive rebounder is All-American Judy Mosely who secured 603 O-boards in her career. Martin is also just five rebounds away from tying Smith for third place in total rebounds at 816. After Martin's eight tonight, she is at 811.
 
The Aggies (6-10, 1-4 BWC) did not have an answer for Karaitiana in the first half as she knocked in 16 points in the first half and six more in the second half. Karaitiana tied her career-high making eight field goals in 17 attempts—including a pair of crucial 3-pointers. She had a game-high nine rebounds and has now been UH's leading rebounder for the third time this season. Karaitiana also swiped a career-high four steals in the game.
 
As a team, the 'Bows crashed the glass hard, out-rebounding the Aggies, 48-to-31 with a 17-to-7 advantage on the offensive boards. A direct result of those O-boards was that UH had a 14-to-7 lead in second-chance points. The 'Bows also out-muscled UCD in the paint, 36-to-28, but UC Davis out-scored UH 20-to-14 in points off of turnovers and 18-to-13 in points from the bench. On offense, the 'Bows shot 41% from the floor and 70% from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Aggies shot 50% in the first half, but just 22% in the second half for an average of 36% in the game.
 
In the first half, the Aggies took control early and led by as much as eight points early on and kept leading through the first 19 minutes of the game. But from the 14-minute mark in the first half on, Hawai`i never allowed UC Davis to get more than six points ahead before reeling them back in even though they couldn't quite catch the Aggies. But late in the half, with less than two minutes left on the clock, UH made a momentum-shifting run to close the first half on an 8-0 run capped by a trey swished by Karaitiana which gave the 'Bows a one-point lead heading into the lockerrooms, 37-36.
 
To start the second half, the game was tied three times with five different lead changes. Then, with 12:25 left in the game and trailing 49-50, Monica DeAngelis drained a long-distance trey that started a 13-to-3 run that gave UH a 61-53 lead with 5:51 left. The Aggies, however chipped away at UH's lead and went on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to just two points, on a layup by UCD's Blair Shinoda. But the 'Bows responded right back when Monica DeAngelis found Kalei Adolpho under the basket for a quick two points and then Karaitiana drilled a 3-pointer to extend UH's lead to seven with 2:24 left. The Rainbow Wahine then made a combined 4-of-6 free throws to seal the win.
 
This is the second straight conference roadtrip in which the 'Bows lost the first game and then bounced back to win the second. Hawai`i is now 6-3 in their last nine games.
 
Hawai`i returns home for a two-game homestand to face Cal Poly on Thursday, Jan. 24 and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Jan. 26.