Honolulu— A comeback to remember spearheaded the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team to its sixth consecutive win with a 70-66 victory over visiting CSUN Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
After trailing by 11 at the half, the Rainbow Wahine (14-10, 8-3) swung the game in their favor behind the play of junior forward Amy Atwell, sophomore forward Myrrah Joseph, and freshman point guard Nae Nae Calhoun. A 14-1 run to end the third quarter brought UH within one at the start of the fourth quarter 50-49.
 
After an aggressive attack in the paint featuring the connection between Calhoun and Joseph, UH turned to Atwell in the closing moments. With the game tied at 59-59, Atwell broke free to the left-wing draining a big three-point bucket to give UH its first lead of the game with 54 seconds left on the clock. The two squads traded free throws in the final minute as the Matadors (9-14, 4-5) tried to slow down the game and make UH earn it from the free-throw line. UH matched CSUN nearly shot for shot at the line for the eventual final.
 
The first half went the way of the Matadors as they jumped out to an early lead of 15-6 against the green and white, mostly due to the play of center De'Jionae Calloway as she accounted for 16 points in the opening 20 minutes. UH battled back in the second quarter pulling within four at 26-22, but CSUN caught fire again for a 14-7 run over the last six minutes going into halftime.
 
"We started ugly," said head coach Laura Beeman. "But what I love about this team is their will to win. They may be playing poorly at times, but they come into the huddle, ready to go, and they follow the game plan."
 
Atwell finished the night with 17 points to lead the team, hitting 5-of-9 from the floor with all five shots coming from beyond the arc and went 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. Her performance from long distance marked the 11th time this season Atwell has accounted for three or more three-pointers in a game.
 
Joseph returned to action after missing the last two games with a 14 point performance, hitting 5-of-8 from the floor,  4-of-5 from the charity stripe, all the while pulling down five rebounds and swiping away four steals.
 
The guard duo of Calhoun and senior guard Julissa Tago proved to be vital. Tago exceeded 10 or more points for the 11th consecutive game as she accounted for 12 points and five assists. Calhoun applied pressure defensively for two steals and set up for a significant charge to force another turnover by the Matadors, totaling 14 on the night. While working the point position, Calhoun tallied nine points, three rebound, and a team-high six assists, with no turnovers.
 
UH will now have its most extended break of the conference schedule with a nine-day layoff till a Feb. 22 matchup with conference leader UC Davis. The return matchup between the 'Bows and the Aggies is setting up to be the game of the year in the Big West with both holding firmly at No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference standings.