Box Score HONOLULU - The fifth-ranked University of Hawai'i women's water polo team suffered their second consecutive defeat, falling to top-ranked USC, 12-8 Saturday night at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (12-4) was led by senior attacker Irene Gonzalez who notched her eighth hat trick of season finishing with three goals. For USC (20-0), Maud Megens poured in five goals to pace the Trojans to their 20^th victory of the season.
 
In the opening frame, Hawai'i broke the score off a bullet by Elyse Lemay-Lavoie at the 6:21 mark. The Trojans answered scoring three straight with USC's Paige Hauschild connecting on two scores.  In the waning moments, Gonzalez netted a goal off a rebound to close the period.
 
Hawai'i stayed aggressive in the second frame but couldn't find any offensive rhythm, going 0-6 in the period. Led by Megens' three goals, the Trojans caught fire, drilling four consecutive goals to take a 7-2 advantage at the break.
 
USC carried their hot shooting in the third period, finding the back of the net three more times before Lemay-Lavoie stopped the 7-0 run. Both teams would trade goals to close the frame.
 
With Hawai'i down 11-4 entering the last eight minutes, the Rainbow Wahine left it all on the pool. UH finished the game outscoring Southern California 4-1.
 
In goal, freshman Bridget Layburn played the first half before giving way to Molly DiLalla in the second half. 
 
The Rainbow Wahine will continue their three-game home stand at the DKAC with a Big West conference matchup against CSUN on March 23, with the first sprint at 6:00 p.m.