Box Score LOS ANGELES  -- The No. 4 University of Hawai'i women's water polo team got off to a strong start, but couldn't hold on in a13-8 loss to No 3 UCLA in a non-conference match Sunday afternoon at the Spieker Aquatics Center. The Rainbow Wahine dropped to 18-4 overall while seeing its five-match win streak snapped. 

UH scored the first two goals of the contest, built a three-goal lead, and held a 5-4 lead at halftime. But the Bruins scored six unanswered goals--five of them to start the second half--to surge ahead and defeat the 'Bows for the second time this season. The Rainbow Wahine previously fell to the the Bruins, 12-8, in the semifinals at the Triton Invitational on Feb. 4

The 'Bows sported a balanced attack with a different player scoring each of their first six goals. But it wasn't enough against a Bruin squad that out-scored UH 9-3 after the break. Alba Bonamusa Boix and Jordan Wedderburn led UH with two goals apiece. The Bruins got multiple goals from four different players, led by Katrina Drake's hat trick of three goals. UH goalkeeper Bridget Layburn tallied nine saves in a losing effort.

The 'Bows jumped on the Bruins in the first quarter as Bia Mantellato Dias and Olivia Kistler netted the first two scores. UH built a 4-1 lead in the second quarter on a Wedderburn penalty shot and maintained a 5-3 minutes later when Bonamusa-Boix converted on a penalty shot of her own. 

But after that it was all Bruins (16-4). UCLA cut the deficit to 5-4 on an Emma Lineback goal going into half. UCLA continued that momentum into the third quarter by scoring five straight goals. Emma van Rossum stopped the bleeding with a power-play goal with 18 second left in the quarter, but by then UH had gone scoreless for more than 11 minutes and fell into a four-score deficit it couldn't recover from. 

The Rainbow Wahine will have a bye this week, before hosting its final two regular-season home matches of the year, beginning with a critical Big West matchup against UC Irvine on Saturday, April 15. First sprint is 6:00 p.m. at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Center.