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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (9-10, 5-3 Big West) fell to UC Santa Barbara, 51-50 on Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Kamilah Martin led UH with 14 points and seven rebounds while Vicky Tagalicod added 11 points off the bench in the Big West contest.
 
Martin was 6-of-12 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line with an assists and a steal. Her 14 points pushes her into 15th place all-time in UH history with 1,030 points, passing Tondi Reddon (1986-88, 89-90) who had 1,023 points. Martin's seven boards moved her into third place alone in total rebounds with 823. She entered the game tied with Tanya Smith (2004-08) at 816. It was the 16th time this season that Martin has scored in double-figures and the 12th time she led UH in scoring.
 
Tagalicod was 5-of-8 in field goals with three rebounds in the game. Freshman Marissa Wimbley had her best game as a Rainbow Wahine, scoring a career-high eight points—including two treys—while dishing out a career and team-high three assists (tied with Ashleigh Karaitiana).
 
It was a tightly fought game with 10 lead changes and four ties. Although UH out-rebounded UCSB, 29-to-26, the 29 boards for UH was a season low for the 'Bows. Hawai`i also had a season low, shooting just 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Hawai`i had just six turnovers in the game, but the Gauchos turned all six of those miscues into 12 points. UH edged out UCSB in points in the paint 32-to-28; second chance points 11-to-6; and in bench points 19-to-6.
 
The first half saw five lead changes alone as both teams battled hard. The Gauchos jumped out to an early 11-2 run before the 'Bows scored six straight points on a pair of free throws from Kamilah Martin and jumpers by Karaitiana and Kalei Adolpho brought UH within striking distance. A basket by UCSB's Kirsten Tilleman extended their lead to 13-8, but UH fought back scoring six in a row again on three straight buckets by Monica DeAngelis, Martin and Tagalicod. Tagalicod's pull up jumper gave UH a 14-13 lead with 11:13 left in the first half. The lead changed four more times in the last 10 minutes of the first half. Wimbley drained two treys and Adolpho hit three baskets to lead UH into the break w/six points each.
 
In the second half, the see-saw battle continued between the two teams. Hawai`i was able to go on a 6-0 run to build a six point lead, 35-29, with 12:34 left in the game, but the Gauchos quickly erased their deficit on six straight points to knot the game at 35-35 with 11:01 on the clock. Later in the game, with 8:46 left, UCSB converted a UH turnover into a made jumper by Tilleman that gave the Gauchos a 39-38 lead. UCSB then held the lead for the next five minutes until Tagalicod's driving layup leapfrogged UH into the lead with 3:15 left, 48-47. The lead changed three more times in the last two minutes. Taglicod sank a jumper with 1:34 left to give UH a 50-49 lead but UCSB missed one 3-pointer but was able to force a turnover then missed a second trey attempt but got the offensive board. UH committed a foul with 29-seconds left but, but UCSB missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 but was able to retain possession on an offensive rebound and later, got a layup by Nicole Nesbit to take the lead for good, 51-50 with 14-seconds left in the game.

UCSB's Melissa Zornig poured in a game-high 15 points and Sweets Underwood added 13 points. Tilleman grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Hawai`i is now 5-3 in their last eight home games—all three losses were by one point [Utah (Dec. 1); Alabama (Dec. 30) and now UCSB].
 
The Honorary Captain for tonight's game was longtime booster Bobbie Broadhead. Broadhead has been a Koa `Anuenue member since the 1970's and the Rainbow Wahine Hui since 1991. Broadhead has sponsored the Rainbow Wahine Basketball Classic since 1986. She was also responsible to establishing the first endowed scholarship for women's basketball in honor of her mother, Elizabeth Broadhead. She is a passionate supporter of all UH sports and has worked hard to make the student-athlete's experience the best possible here at Hawai`i.
 
The Rainbow Wahine head on the road for a three-game road swing through the Los Angeles area. Hawai`i will face Cal State Northridge on Feb. 2 to end the Big West first round. UH will stay on the road to play at Long Beach State on Feb. 7 and UC Irvine on Feb. 9.