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Kelsie Imai dribble
51
Winner UC San Diego UCSD 19-15,13-7 Big West
49
Hawaii Hawaii 22-9,16-4 Big West
Winner
UC San Diego UCSD
19-15,13-7 Big West
51
Final
49
Hawaii Hawaii
22-9,16-4 Big West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UC San Diego UCSD 22 19 6 4 51
Hawaii Hawaii 4 14 11 20 49

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker In Big West Semifinals

HENDERSON, Nev. — After a frigid start on a chilly afternoon, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team charged back to erase a 27-point deficit  in the semifinals of the Big West Championships. But the remarkable second-half comeback was doused just before the buzzer in a 51-49 loss to UC San Diego  Friday at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.

Sumayah Sugapong's driving left-handed layup with less than a second left  lifted the fourth-seeded Tritons (19-15) to victory and advanced UCSD, in their Division I postseason debut, to Saturday's tournament title game.  

The top-seeded Rainbow Wahine (22-9), meanwhile, bowed out the tourney semifinals for the second straight year. As the Big West regular-season champion, UH secured a berth in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. The WBIT bracket will be announced on Sunday.

Sugapong's heorics thwarted a phenomenal rally by the 'Bows.  After trailing by 23 at halftime, the Rainbow Wahine stormed back, outscoring UCSD, 31-10 after the break. The UH defense limited UCSD to six points over the first 17 minutes of the second half. The 'Bows tied the game when Brooklyn Rewers completed a three-point play with 1:20 remaining in regulation.

UCSD scored just four points in the fourth quarter, but it was Sugapong's layup, just the second field goal of the entire quarter for UCSD that served as the dagger to UH's comeback hopes.
 
Sugapong, an All-Big West first-team selection, led UCSD with 17 points, while Parker Montgomery added 16 points, all of them in the first half.  Big West Player of the Year Lily Wahinekapu led UH with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Brooklyn Rewers added 10 point, all but two of them, coming during UH's fourth-quarter surge.
 
UH shot 5 for 29 from the field (17.2%) in the first half while UC San Diego went into the locker room after a 16-for-33 performance with five 3-pointers to open up a 23-point lead at the break.
 
UH missed its first six shots and UCSD took a 5-0 lead before Wahinekapu hit a mid-range jumper. The Tritons extended the lead to 22-4 as UCSD, which rallied past Cal Poly in the quarterfinals on Thursday, got out to a 10-for-17 start with two 3-pointers while UH went 2 for 16 from the field. UH's four points in the opening period matched the season low in a quarter this season.
 
The 'Bows went the final 5:24 of the period without a field goal and Tamilo broke the drought at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter. UCSD's lead grew to 30-8 on Parker Montgomery's third 3-pointer. UH, which overcame a 19-point first quarter deficit in a win over UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 8, faced its largest deficit of the season when Sugapong scored to stretch the Tritons' lead to 34-10. The 'Bows were 0 for 13 from 3-point range before MeiLani McBee connected with 41 seconds left in the half and UH trailed 41-18 at the break.

Montgomery had all 16 of her points with four 3-pointers in the first half while Sugapong had 11 points.

UH opened the second half with a Tamilo bucket inside and a 3-pointer from the corner for McBee. The 'Bows defense held UCSD scoreless for nearly four minutes and another Tamilo score inside made it a 10-0 UH run bridging halftime. The UH defense limited UCSD to six points in the period and went into the fourth quarter trailing 47-29.

UH then opened the fourth with a 7-0 run and cut the deficit to 11 when Wahinekapu drained a 3-pointer to prompt a UCSD timeout at the 5:54 mark. Rewers hit a 3-pointer from the wing to make it an eight-point margin with four minutes remaining and Wahinekapu added another 3 with 3:21 left.
 
The teams traded buckets and UH had possession trailing 49-46 with 1:33 left and Rewers scored inside while drawing a foul and drained the free throw to remarkably tie the game. UH had a chance to take the lead with less than 30 seconds left but a steal gave the Tritons possession and Sugapong's driving layup dropped with 0.1 seconds showing. UH called timeout but a desperation attempt came up short at the buzzer. 

The Tritons snapped UH's five-game winning streak in the series between the teams with their first win over the 'Bows since Jan. 5, 2023.
 
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