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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (4-1, 0-0 Big West) pulled away down the stretch to defeat Prairie View A&M (0-4, 0-0 SWAC), 72-58 to open the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Shootout. Junior center Connie Morris led four UH players to score in double figures with a game-high 15 points. Shawlina Segovia added 14 points while Morgan Mason and Ashleigh Karaitiana added 12 and 11 points respectively on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawai`i improved to 4-1 on the season for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
 
The first half was tightly contested with nine ties and seven lead changes. Hawai`i went into the break with a slim 38-36 lead. Segovia led the 'Bows at the half with 10 points while both Morris and Briana Harris had a team-high three rebounds apiece. But in the second half, the Rainbow Wahine never relinquished their lead to the Lady Panthers. Hawai`i started the second half on a 9-to-0 run to jump out to an 11 point lead with 15:57 left in the game. But PVAMU would start to chip away at their deficit, going on an 8-to-2 run of their own to trail by just two points with 7:46 left in the game. But that would be as close as the Lady Panthers would get as the 'Bows ended the game on a 14-to-2 run, holding Prairie View A&M without a field goal for the final 7:46 minutes of the game.
 
Morris followed her career-high 21-point performance last Sunday night with a game-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor. She also had four rebounds with an assist and a game-high three blocked shots. Segovia came off the bench and also shot 7-for-9 in field goals for a career-high 14 points. Mason added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and was 4-of-7 from the free throw line as well, while Karaitana shot 4-for-10 with a trey and a pair of free throws for her 11 points on the night. Karaitiana also contributed five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. Shawna-Lei Kuehu led UH with six rebounds and was tied with Mason with a game-high five assists. The six rebounds by Kuehu gave her 501 career rebounds.
 
Hawai`i edged Prairie View A&M, 35-to-34 on the glass, but the Lady Panthers pulled down 15 offensive boards. UH outscored PVAMU in the paint, 42-to-36 and 19-to-13 in points off of turnovers. Hawai`i committed 21 turnovers—the second most this season, and although the 'Bows were very efficient shooting a season-high 56.9% (29-for-51) in field goals, UH shot a season-low 52.2% (12-of-23) from the free throw line.  
 
The Rainbow Wahine continue the tournament on Saturday as they take on No. 5/4 Stanford who was upset earlier in the day by No. 11/12 North Carolina, 70-54. The UH vs. Stanford game will be at 4:30 p.m. at the SSC. The Tar Heels will play the first game of the day at 2:00 p.m. against Prairie View A&M. The arena will be cleared immediately after the game for the women's volleyball Senior Night game against UC Davis at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.