HONOLULU – Breaking up the joy of having a senior star reaching a major career milestone, the CSUN Matadors (11-9, 4-2 Big West) pulled away from the University of Hawaii women's basketball team (8-12, 1-6 Big West) in the fourth quarter on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center, dealing the Rainbow Wahine their third consecutive conference loss.
 
Coming out of the break at the conclusion of the third quarter, senior Sarah Toeaina worked straight down the lane on a backdoor layup to score her 11th point of the night against the Matadors. That score secured her fifth straight double-digit performance, made her the 21st player in Hawai'i history to reach 1,000 career points and trimmed the already small CSUN advantage to just two points.
 
After falling behind with 3:34 remaining in the third on a Hayley Tanabe three-pointer, the Rainbow Wahine battled to keep within a two-possession striking distance throughout the final period. UH drew the deficit to three points on a Toeaina three-point play with 5:31 to go. However, the Matadors delivered at the free throw line while the shots just wouldn't fall for the Rainbow Wahine. CSUN put away 7-of-10 free throws in the final five minutes to lock up the 70-58 win.
 
Putting their first new starting line in 10 games on the floor, the Rainbow Wahine opened on a 9-2 run, employing full-court pressure and a stout zone to keep the Matadors at bay as UH dominated the pace of the opening period. The lead changed three times, with three ties, before a Makenna Woodfolk three swung the momentum back to UH just 54 seconds before half, later blocking CSUN star center Channon Fluker for the 35-31 UH lead at half.
 
On her big night, Toeaina finished as the top scorer for Hawai'i with 18 points, recording seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Another huge night for Woodfolk, the sophomore tallied 17 points for her fifth double-figure game in the last six.
 
The conference's top scorer, Fluker recorded 34 points with 17 rebounds for the Matadors.
 
The Rainbow Wahine finish out the week at home in a rematch with UC Riverside on Saturday. Hosting a Green-Out for Military Night, tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. HT against the Highlanders, who fell at home to UC Irvine, 81-71 on Thursday.