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Morgan Mason hits the game-winning shot at UC Irvine
Warren Haraki

Women's Basketball

Hawai`i Wins on Buzzer-Beater at UC Irvine, 55-54

Box Score   |  Box Score (html)

IRVINE, Calif.—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (14-10, 8-4 Big West) escaped UC Irvine with a thrilling 55-54 win that came down to the wire on Thursday night at the Bren Center. Morgan Mason scored on a put-back with one-second left on the clock for the win. It marked UH's third straight conference win while UC Irvine fell to 12-13 overall and 5-6 in the Big West. Mason led theh Rainbow Wahine with 14 points while Destiny King added 11, Shawna-Lei Kuehu chipped in with 10 and Sydney Haydel secured a career- and game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Hawai`i moved into a tie for second place in conference with Cal Poly on Thursday, at 8-4, while UC Irvine fell to sixth place at 5-6.
 
As the game went down the stretch, the Anteaters took the lead, 54-53 with 1:27 left in the game. Then after both teams committed a turnover, UH got the ball back with less than a minute left. Mason missed a jumper with 26-seconds left, but King came up with a huge offensive rebound and Hawai`i called timeout with 20-seconds left. Kuehu missed a jumper with six-seconds to play, but Mason got the rebound, dribbled around traffic and laid it back in as time expired for the win.
 
Mason led UH and made a career-high seven field goals in 10 attempts and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds and had two steals. King was 4-for-11 from the floor with seven boards, two assists and a blocked shot. Kuehu scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting. She also had three rebounds with a steal. 
 
The Rainbow Wahine found a way to win without its leading scorer and rebounder Kamilah Jackson for the second straight game due to injury. Hawai`i outrebounded UC Irvine, 40-to-31 and outscored UCI in the paint, 30-to-20 and in points off of turnovers, 17-to-8. UH also out scored the Anteaters, 12-to-9 in second chance points and 8-0 on fast breaks. UCI's bench out-scored UH's reserves, 14-to-8.

The 'Bows took a slim, 28-27 lead into halftime. Then Hawaii went on a 10-to-2 run to start the second half to take a 38-29 lead with 15:10 left in the game. Later, the 'Bows scored nine straight points to open up a 47-34 lead, the largest lead of the game with 10:47 on the clock. But then, the Anteaters would fight their way back into the game, going on a 13-to-2 run of their own which gave UCI the lead, 52-51 with 2:18 remaining. Kuehu then hit a jumper to see-saw UH back into the lead at 53-52 advantage with 1:50 to play. Vanessa Aguilar then drained a pair of free throws to put UCI in front, 54-53 with 1:27 left. Hawai`i would then score on Mason's put-back to win at the buzzer.
 
Hawai`i will remain on the road to face UC Davis on Saturday with an early 2:00 pm start time.


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