LAS VEGAS – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine basketball team was eliminated from the Air Force Reserve Big West Championships following a 64-52 semifinal loss to top-seeded UC Davis Friday afternoon at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
 
The game was even at the half but the Aggies (12-2) doubled UH up, 22-11, in the decisive third quarter to pull away and earn a spot in the Big West finals for the third straight time. The Rainbow Wahine, meanwhile, concluded the season with an 9-8 overall mark.
 
Coming off a season-high 81 points in a quarterfinal win over CSU Bakersfield, UH could never find a rhythm against the league's top defensive team. UH was held to a season-low 24 percent shooting  against the league's top defensive squad. The teams were just one week removed from a hotly-contested series in Honolulu in which the teams split a pair of games. UH handed the Aggies their only conference loss of the season last Friday, but UCD came back to take next two contests, including today's tournament win.
 
Amy Atwell led UH with 17 points and nine rebounds. With a trio of three-pointers Atwell moved past Nani Cockett for fourth on the UH charts of career three-pointers with 129. In her final appearance as a Rainbow Wahine, senior Jadynn Alexander finished with 10 points. Mackenzie Trpcic (13 points) and post player Sage Stobbart (12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks) led a balanced Aggie attack.
 
UH got off to a slow start and found themselves trailing by eight points on a pair of occasions, including a 17-9 deficit early in the second quarter. However the Rainbow Wahine reeled off a 13-2 run, capped by a Daejah Phillips bucket that put them up by three points. Despite shooting just 25 percent in the first half, UH was locked up with the Aggies, 24-24, at the break
 
UH scored the first bucket of the second half to go ahead. But after that it was all UC Davis. The Aggies reeled off nine straight points to take a lead they would not relinquish. UC Davis built its lead to as many as 15 points in the final quarter and despite a late frantic rally in which the Rainbow Wahine scored 10 unanswered points, UH would get no closer than four points.