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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (4-3, 0-0 Big West) held off Chattanooga (4-3, 0-0 Southern) for a 60-55 win on the second day of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown. Hawai'i evened their tournament record to 1-1 while the Mocs fell to 0-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Kamilah Jackson and
Ashleigh Karaitiana both recorded double-doubles in the game while
Destiny King also tallied double-digits in the 'Bows win. Double-double machine Jackson scored a game-high 17 points—15 of which came in the second half—with a team-high 11 rebounds. She also dished out a game- and season-high five assists in the game. Although she shot just 7-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-7 from the free throw line, she came through in the clutch with the game on the line, hitting a layup and ensuing free throw with 22 seconds left in the game to seal the win. It was Jackson's fifth straight and 48th career double-double.
Karaitiana notched her second career double-double in her third start of the season. Both she and King drilled three treys apiece. Karaitiana was 4-for-8 in field goals and 3-for-5 from beyond the arch. She matched her career-high with a season-high 10 rebounds which she has reached three times in her two years as a Rainbow Wahine.
For King, it was her first start of season and 10th in her career. As the point guard, she led UH to an early 15 point lead in the first half. King scored all of her 11 points in the first half after drilling 3-of-3 treys plus two free throws. She also had three rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action.
It was a streaky game of runs for both sides. The 'Bows started the game hot, scoring the first 10 points of the game before UTC was able to record a basket at the 14:18 mark. Later in the half, UH went on a 16-to-7 run fueled by King's three 3-pointer, two treys by Karaitiana and layups by Jackson and
Briana Harris. UH was scoring while clamping down on defense to jump out to a 26-11 lead with 8:08 left in the half. However, UH's offense went stagnant and was unable to score any points the rest of the half while Chattanooga went on a furious comeback, pouring in the final 15 points to tie the score on a Meghan Downes jumper with 12-seconds left at 26-26 going into the break. In the first half, UTC pounded the paint, outscoring the 'Bows 20-to-6.
The second half was much tighter, seeing two ties and four lead changes in the first six minutes as the teams see-sawed back and forth. The Mocs came out of the break with Ka'Vonne Towns extending their run to 17-to-0 on a layup to start the half, giving UTC their first lead of the game at 28-26. But the Rainbow Wahine immediately responded when Kuehu hit a jumper in the lane and Karaitiana hit her third 3-pointer of the game to give the lead back to UH, 31-28 with 18:51 left.
Later, with 13:21 left in the game, UH started to separate themselves from the Lady Mocs by going on a 10-0 run to lead UTC, 45-36 with 11:02 left on the clock. UH eventually built their lead to as much as 12 points at 51-39 before Chattanooga started to chip away. UTC once again closed the half strong, scoring seven unanswered points to erase UH's lead to 55-52 with 2:14 left. Kuehu then sank two key free throws with 1:40 left, but UTC's Taylor Hall drilled a 3-pointer with 1:33 left to trim their deficit to just two points. Then, with less than a minute left in the game, Kuehu found Jackson under the basket for a layup with 22-seconds left in the game. Jackson hit the basket, was fouled, and made the ensuing free throw to give UH a 60-55 lead, a score that would hold up as the final as Chattanooga missed their final two field goal attempts.
Hawai'i out-rebounded their opponents for the fourth time this season, 44-to-39 while on offense, the 'Bows sank a season-high six 3-pointers. Chattanooga out-scored Hawai'i 16-to-6 in points off of turnovers; 14-to-9 in second chance points and 31-to-10 in bench scoring.
The Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown concludes on Sunday with Colorado State taking on Chattanooga at 12:00 pm and Hawai'i battling Minnesota at 5:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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