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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (15-11, 9-5 Big West) held off Long Beach State, 82-71 in a pivotal Big West contest. The Rainbow Wahine moved into a tie for second place with Cal Poly as the Mustangs fell to UC Davis. Hawai`i is now just a game behind league-leader Cal State Northridge. Hawai`i led from wire-to-wire and got career-high performances from Shawna-Lei Kuehu, Pua Kailiawa and Morgan Mason on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Kuehu poured in a career-high 28 points while Kailiawa recorded her first career double-double and Mason scored a career-high 16 points. For the fourth straight game, UH played without leading scorer/rebounder Kamilah Jackson who remained out with an injury.
 
Kuehu sank a career-best nine field goals in 16 attempts and went 10-for-13 from the free throw line. She finished the game one rebound shy of her first double-double of the season. Kuehu also had a team-high four assists, two steals and a blocked shot. She has scored in double-figures in six of UH's last seven games and it marked the second time in her career that she's hit the 20-point mark.
 
Kailiawa scored 13 points and 10 rebounds—both career-highs. She was 5-of-11 from the floor with a 3-pointer made and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. She secured six offensive (career-high) and four defensive boards in the game. She also dished a career-high three assists and had a blocked shot while playing a career-high 38 minutes.
 
Mason was an efficient 6-of-7 in field goals including a trey. She was also perfect from the free throw line, sinking 3-of-3. She chiped in with three rebounds with an assist in the game.
 
Hawai`i got off to a strong start in the first half, building a 17-point lead with a little over two minutes left in the half. But Long Beach State (15-12, 7-6 Big West), rallied in the closing moments to cut UH's lead to 12 on a 5-0 run in the last two minutes. Hawai`i led, 40-28 going into the break.
 
In the second half, UH got off to a hot start, extending their lead to 20 points to lead 50-30 in the first six minutes. But the 49ers then started to get stops on defense as their offense closed the gap going on a 15-to-2 to cut their deficit to seven points with 9:33 left. Later in the half, LBSU's Ella Clark sank a 3-pointer to trail by just six points with 1:42 left in the game. But that would be as close as Long Beach State would get as UH would end on a 7-to-2 run to win the game 82-71.
 
In UH's first game against the 49ers, the two teams combined for 52 fouls. But in tonight's game, UH didn't even attempt a free-throw in the first half and didn't attempt one until there was just 12:04 left in the game. UH ended up shooting 18-for-22 from the charity stripe, including 7-of-10 in the last couple minutes of the game.
 
Hawai`i out-rebounded Long Beach State, 38-to-30 and outscored their opponents, 40-to-30 in the paint. LBSU edged out UH in points off of turnovers, 17-to-16, but the 'Bows had the advantage in second-chance points, 15-to-12 and in bench scoring, 19-to-12.
 
In their last meeting, the 49ers edged out Hawai`i on the road, 72-74. UH was without two of its key players in that game. Kuehu was under the weather and played just six minutes while Jackson (who is averaging 15 points and just a shade under nine rebounds a game) was shackled with fouls and played a career-low nine minutes. On Thursday, Kuehu and her teammates picked up the slack for Jackson who had to sit out with her injury.
 
Hawai`i has a bye on Saturday. The 'Bows will return to the court next Thursday, March 6 to face UC Santa Barbara. It will be Senior Night for four Rainbow Wahine—Sydney Haydel, Kamilah Jackson, Pua Kailiawa, and Diane Moore—who will be playing their final game at the Stan Sheriff Center.