SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team fell behind early against UC Santa Barbara for the second straight meeting and this time couldn't muster a comeback in a 65-53 loss to the Gauchos on Thursday at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.
 
UH guard Lily Wahinekapu finished with nine points and reached a career milestone in the third quarter when she hit a mid-range jumper to pass the 1,000-point mark. The junior from Kāneohe, O'ahu now has 1,005 points in her collegiate career, 427 at Cal State Fullerton as a freshman and 578 since joining the Rainbow Wahine last season.
 
Thursday's game marked the first meeting between Hawai'i (9-8, 6-2 Big West) and UCSB (13-6, 8-2) since the Big West Championship final in Henderson, Nev., last March when the Rainbow Wahine erased a 15-point second-half deficit to pull out a 61-59 win and capture a second straight conference title.
 
The Gauchos took control early in the rematch and held off the 'Bows to jump past UH into first place in the Big West standings. UCSB forward Alexis Whitfield led the Gauchos with 23 points and 19 rebounds and guard Alyssa Marin added 12 points.
 
UH enters the second leg of its road trip tied for second in the conference race with UC Irvine and Cal Poly.
 
UH guard Olivia Davies scored a season-high 14 points and tied guard Daejah Phillips for team-high honors. Phillips added four rebounds and tied her season high with four steals. Davies hit two 3-pointers, but UH finished a collective 4 for 26 beyond the arc.
 
UC Santa Barbara hit its first five shots to take a 12-4 lead and set the tone for a 57.1% shooting performance in the first half. The Gauchos closed the first quarter with a 10-2 surge punctuated by back-to-back 3-pointers from Whitfield and Zoe Borter to open up a 22-9 lead.
 
UCSB drained five 3-pointers in the half and led by as many at 17 before Davies hit her second 3-pointer of the game in the final seconds of the first half.
 
UCSB stretched the lead to 20 at 58-38 to close the third quarter before finally cooling off in the fourth. UH outscored UCSB 15-7 in the final period and closed to 12 with 3:31 left but would get no closer.
 
The Rainbow Wahine continue the road trip at Cal Poly on Saturday in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Pacific Time/noon Hawai'i Time.