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Olivia Davies uses the screen for separation.
51
Winner UC Davis UCD 20-13,13-7 Big West
48
Hawaii Hawaii 20-10,17-3 Big West
Winner
UC Davis UCD
20-13,13-7 Big West
51
Final
48
Hawaii Hawaii
20-10,17-3 Big West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UC Davis UCD 8 15 16 12 51
Hawaii Hawaii 9 11 16 12 48

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Basketball Upset By UC Davis In Big West Semifinals

HENDERSON, Nev. — The top-seeded University of Hawai'i women's basketball team's quest for a three-peat came to an abrupt end in a 51-48 semifinal loss to UC Davis in the Hercules Tires Big West Championship Friday at the Dollar Loan Center.
 
The two-time defending champion Rainbow Wahine (20-10) rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to take a fourth-quarter lead but were ultimately turned back by the fifth-seeded Aggies (20-13) who won their third tournament game in three days to advance to Saturday's final. UH saw its seven-game win streak halted, while also falling in the Dollar Loan Center for the first time.

MeiLani McBee led UH with 12 points, while Jacque David added 11. Tova Sabel led three Aggies in double-figures with 14 points, while All-Big West selection Evanne Turner added 13 points, including a pair of crucial three-pointers down the stretch. 

The first half was an offensive struggle. The 'Bows took an early 9-3 lead, but suddenly went ice-cold in missing 10 straight shots over the final 6:15 of the quarter. UC Davis, however, wasn't much better, shooting just 2-of-9 to start the game and UH took a 9-8 lead into the second quarter. 

McBee broke the scoreless drought by swishing a three-pointer at the 9:27 mark as UH started the second frame on a 9-2 run to take an 18-10 lead. But just like the first quarter, UH went into a funk scoring just two points in the final five minutes of the half. The Aggies capitalized with a 13-2 run, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Megan Norris and Mazaltan Harris to put UH in a 23-20 halftime hole. David drained a deep three as the buzzer sounded, but the shot was waved off after review. UH shot 29 percent in the first half and UCD just 28 percent.

The teams combined to start 0-for-11 in the third quarter and were scoreless for the first three minutes. But UC Davis rattled off 13 of the next 17 points and extended its lead to double-digits, 36-24, when Sabel nailed the Aggies third three-pointer of the quarter. UH trailed by as many as 13 points, and lost guard Daejah Phillips, the Big West Sixth Player of the Year, to an injury midway through the third quarter. But the 'Bows regrouped to surge back with a 12-3 run punctuated by Ashley Thoms' buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it just a 39-36 deficit heading into the fourth quarter. 

UH continued its momentum in the fourth and recaptured the lead, 40-39, on a pair of Kelsie Imai free throws at the 7:40 mark to extend its run to 16-3. From there it was a nip-and-tuck affair. 

UC Davis took a 46-42 lead on an Turner three-pointer, but again UH stormed back and a pair of Lily Wahinekapu free throws put UH back up, 48-46, with 1:17 left. It would be the final points UH would score for the game. Turner drilled a three-pointer from the wing with 47 seconds left to put the Aggies back up.

Wahinekapu missed on a pair of free throws with 10.6 seconds left and UH proceeded to send the Aggies to the line where Harris hit both attempts to make it a three-point game with six seconds left. UH had one last gasp, but David's desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer was blocked by a pair of Aggies.

As the Big West regular-season champion, the Rainbow Wahine earned an automatic bid to the new Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. The field for the 32-team event will be announced on Sunday. The selection show will air on NCAA.com at 3 p.m. Hawai'i Time. 
 
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