RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Despite a fast start, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team saw its 14-game winning streak come to a halt with a 61-51 loss to UC Riverside on Thursday at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (20-7, 14-3 Big West) jumped out an 11-point lead in the first quarter, but the host Highlanders (14-14, 10-8) flipped the momentum in the second and took control in the fourth to earn a home win over UH for the second straight year.
The loss was UH's first since Jan. 2 and cut the 'Bows' lead in the Big West standings to one game over second-place UC Irvine, which defeated Cal State Fullerton on Thursday.
UH forward
Imani Perez hit a career-high four 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 12 points. The junior also tied her career best with four assists and matched her season high with three blocked shots.
Lily Wahinekapu added 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and
Kelsie Imai contributed nine points and four boards.
Hannah Wickstrom led UC Riverside with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers. Shelley Duchemin added 14 points and had five of the Highlanders' 10 steals.
After a slow start, UCR shot 52.2% from the field in the second half to finish at 42.6% for the game and went 4 for 7 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter. UH started the game shooting 64.3% in the first quarter then cooled off to finish at 39.6%.
The 'Bows raced out to a 9-0 lead to prompt an early UCR timeout. UH went 9 for 14 from the field in the first 10 minutes with Perez hitting both of her 3-point attempts and took a 20-9 lead into the second.
UCR opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run and later took their first lead at 26-24 when Maya Chocano hit a 3-pointer. Imai answered with a drive shot off the glass and the teams went into halftime tied 26-26.
UH took a 33-28 lead with just over six minutes left in the third quarter when Perez hit her third 3-pointer. But Wickstrom scored seven points in an 11-3 UCR run and hit a 3-pointer to push the Highlanders ahead 39-36.
A free throw gave UCR a 40-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter and Duchemin and Seneca Hackley hit 3-pointers to open the final period and open up a 10-point cushion.
Mia 'Uhila connected from long range for UH, but Wickstrom made it a 3-for-3 start from distance in the quarter. UCR led by as many as 13 on its way to the win.
UH concludes its final road trip of the regular season by taking on UC Davis on Saturday at University Credit Union Arena in Davis, Calif. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Pacific Time (noon Hawai'i Time).
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