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Video Highlights (Courtesy of OC Sports)

HONOLULU-The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team (11-9, 4-3 Big West) held off Cal State Fullerton ( 2-18, 0-6 Big West) for a 62-53 win on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Destiny King and Brianna Harris both scored 12 points apiece to lead Hawai'i while Brianna Kennedy and Megan Huff each pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

The Rainbow Wahine led by as many as 13 points twice in the second quarter, the last coming at 7:39 left in the first half after a Connie Morris layup which gave UH a 30-17 lead. But the Titans would chip away and ended the half scoring a pair of treys with less than two minutes left to go to trail by just six points. UH led at the break, 37-31.

In the second half, UH never quite got into a groove but held on to a single-digit lead until 9:02 left in the fourth quarter when Michelle Berry hit a layup to knot the score at 44-44. UH's King hit a pair of free throws to go up by two points, but the Titans' Jade Vega followed with a layup to tie the score again at 46-46. CSF's Portia Neale then hit 1-of-2 free throws to give Fullerton their first lead of the second half at 47-46 with 6:50 left in the game. UH's King then took control, scoring back-to-back buckets to give UH a 50-47 lead and the Rainbow Wahine never looked back. UH hit 9-of-12 free throws with less that three minutes left in the game--including two by King--to secure the win.

King came through in the clutch, scoring nine of her 12 points in the second-half. She played just five minutes in the first half saddled with two fouls but came back in the second half to help lift the 'Bows to the win. For the game, King was 3-for-5 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the free throw line with three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Harris was just 1-of-3 from the field with a trey, but she hit a career-high 9-of-10 free throws--two of which came with 21-seconds left on the clock to help seal the win. Harris also tallied three rebounds, and three assists.

Kennedy came off the bench in the first half and made an impact for the team. She ended the night with a career-high eight rebounds, three blocked shots, and 25 minutes played while adding four points on offense while playing solidly on defense.

Huff added 10 points for Hawai'i with two blocks while going 5-of-10 in field goals.

The Rainbow Wahine bench outscored the Titans, 33-to-10 and out-rebounded their opponent for the fifth straight game, 47-to-37. UH cleared nine offensive boards in the fourth quarter alone. Hawai'i outscored Fullerton 30-to-20 in the paint and 18-to-6 in second chance points.

Cal State Fullerton was led by a strong performance by Berry who scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-27 shooting with a game-high 16 rebounds. She played all 40 minutes for the Titans.

UH starter Kalei Adolpho went out of the game early with six minutes in the first quarter after getting inadvertently elbowed in the face. She did not return to the game.

The Rainbow Wahine will face UC Irvine next on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 pm. It is the first game of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team taking on Long Beach State at 8:00 pm.