SAN DIEGO, CALIF.— For the second consecutive game, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team fell in a one-point contest with a 58-57 loss at San Diego State on Friday.
 
UH captured the lead at 57-56 with 1:27 remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter. The 'Bows trailed by as much as eight points in the final frame but clawed their way back due to the efforts of senior guard Leah Salanoa as she scored 12 of her 15 points in the quarter.
 
SDSU regained the lead at 58-57 after a made jumper by Tea Adams with eight seconds remaining. UH called a timeout and advanced the ball to mid court to draw up one final play. Junior guard Courtney Middap took the inbounds pass and rolled off a screen from the top of the key driving down the left side the lane. Her layup hit off the backboard, and the front of the rim, bouncing out, followed by SDSU pulling down the defensive rebound with one second left. The matchup concluded after a UH foul, and an inbounds pass as the lone second ticked away.
 
"I'm incredibly pleased with our effort and our fourth quarter was outstanding," said head coach Laura Beeman. "But you look at how we ended our first half; it was a lot like how we ended our first half against Pepperdine. We had too many turnovers, and today we didn't hit our free throws."
 
The Rainbow Wahine (0-2) last started a season with back-to-back losses in 2016 but will look to bounce back quickly with a game on Sunday. The Aztecs (1-0) started their season with a win for the third time in five years and will travel to Santa Clara for the first road trip of the season.
 
Junior forward Makenna Woodfolk led the 'Bows in scoring for the second straight game as she accounted for 16 points, hitting 5-of-11 from the floor. As Salanoa led the way in the second half, junior guard Julissa Tago paved the way in the first two quarters. Tago scored 12 of her 13 points in the first half, hitting 5-of-5 from the floor, including two three-point buckets in the first 20 minutes of action.
 
UH tightened up the rebounding and the turnover battles compared to the first game of the season. Finishing with 33 boards compared to 34 by SDSU, and having one less turnover at 13, in relation to the Aztecs at 14.
 
"I'm not happy with losing," said Beeman. "But I feel different with this team compared to last season when we lost. We are making adjustments, and we are fighting. We have to keep improving, and we need to get healthy.
 
The Rainbow Wahine will wrap up their first road trip of the season when they head 10 miles west of SDSU to take on San Diego on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. HT. At the conclusion of the trip, UH will head back to the island of O'ahu for a seven-game homestead ranging from Nov. 16 to Dec. 9.