RIVERSIDE, Calif.— The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team prevailed past UC Riverside on the road at SRC Arena on Thursday night.
 
"It wasn't pretty, but it was a win we had to work for," said head coach Laura Beeman. "Our young players came up big for us, you look at the timely rebounds Jadynn (Alexander) was able to pull down in the fourth quarter, and how well Myrrah (Joseph) played for us throughout the entire night, this shows we're starting to build on our confidence."
 
The Rainbow Wahine (13-15, 9-6) remain in the hunt for the No. 2 seed of the Big West Conference tournament, beginning on Tuesday at UC Irvine.  UH currently sits at No. 3 following the win against UCR, and cannot fall lower than No. 4, solidifying at least one bye in the conference tournament. The Highlanders (15-13, 9-6) are now out of the running for the No. 2 seed and can either finisher at No. 3 or No. 4 in the standings, depending on the outcome of Saturday's games.
 
UH and UCR battled throughout the evening with neither team expanding their leads to double-digits. After a stalemate at the half of 23-23, UH used a strong third quarter to separate themselves from the home squad by three, taking a 39-36 lead into the final frame.
 
On two separate occasions through the fourth quarter, the Highlanders worked to creep back into the game with under five minutes on the clock. Timely precession shooting by junior guard Courtney Middap from beyond the arc kept UH out in front in the closing minutes.
 
The first coming at 4:41 on the clock, UH held a 44-40 lead, Middap sprang free and hit a long-range three on the run to put the 'Bows up 47-40. A few moments later UCR crept within five, but Middap found space in the corner draining another three, giving UH a 50-42 lead with 1:26 to go. The 'Bows stuck to the game plan of aggressive defensive keeping UCR to just one field goal in the final 90 seconds of action for the final score.
 
Freshman forward Myrrah Joseph led the way with a team-high 14 points and cleaned the glass for another team-high at seven rebounds. Senior guard Tia Kanoa followed with 11 points and a game-high five assists. Kanoa also used the deep ball as she went 3-for-5 from three-point territory. Middap's crucial fourth quarter brought her to a finish of 10 points and pulled down four rebounds in the process.
 
As a team, UH won the rebounding battle for the fifth game in a row, 40-37, and the bench scoring heavily favored the road squad, 23-0.
 
Next up will be the regular season finale with UH visiting CSUN on Saturday at 2 p.m. HT. UH dropped the previous matchup to the Matadors on Jan. 17, when the 'Bows were held to a season-low in the 49-29 loss.