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HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team overcame winless UC Santa Barbara, 60-43, to move into a tie for first place in the Big West Conference Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (14-7) improved to 6-2 in league play with their sixth consecutive victory and 11th straight Big West home game dating back to last season. UH is tied atop the standings with Long Beach State and Cal Poly, whom the Rainbow Wahine will host on Saturday in a pivotal match-up at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
But that scenario almost didn't materialize, as the Rainbow Wahine could not fend off the feisty Gauchos in the first half. The teams traded leads for the majority of the period until UH closed out the half with a 7-0 run to take a 30-23 advantage at the break.
 
Spanning a seven-minute stretch between the first and second half, UH scored 11 unanswered and held UCSB scoreless for nearly seven minutes to push its lead to 34-23. UH extended the lead to 45-29 after consecutive buckets by Shawna-Lei Kuehu and led by as many as 21 after a pair of Morgan Mason free throws with 4:25 remaining.
 
UH was led by Destiny King, who scored a game-high 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Ashleigh Karaitiana added 13 points, including five straight to close out the first half to spur the Rainbow Wahine rally.  Kuehu chipped in which 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
Onome Jemerigbe scored a team-high 13 points for UCSB (0-21, 0-8).
 
At halftime, UH's first women's basketball coach Patsy Dung (1974-79) was recognized as the team's honorary captain for the game.
 
Saturday's game against Cal Poly begins at 5:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.