LOS ANGELES — The University of Hawai'i women's water polo team, ranked third and fourth in the national polls, fell 16-9 against No. 4 UCLA on Saturday at the Spieker Aquatic Complex in Los Angeles.

Ema Vernoux led the Rainbow Wahine in scoring with four goals, including a first-quarter hat trick, in her 10th game with four or more goals this season. Bernadette Doyle followed with three goals, earning her 20th career hat trick. Daisy Logtens went the distance at goalie and posted six saves and two steals.

UH scored on four of its first six shots on its way to taking the lead in the first quarter. But UCLA responded with a 9-1 run over the remainder of the half to take control and earned a split of the series with UH this season. The 'Bows won the first meeting between the teams on Feb. 23 in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.

Logtens denied an early UCLA opportunity and Vernoux opened the scoring with a skip shot for a power-play goal. After the Bruins answered, Vernoux fired in her second goal then completed a first-quarter hat trick with a lob over the UCLA goalie. Jordan Wedderburn extended the UH run to stretch the lead to 4-1. The Bruins scored the final two goals of the period to cut the margin to one.

UCLA tied the match on its first possession of the second quarter and took its first lead on a lob into the corner of the net. The Bruins continued to extend the lead with three more goals to open up an 8-4 lead. Morgan Rios ended the UCLA run with a goal off an entry pass from Vernoux. The Bruins added two more goals to take a 10-5 lead into halftime.

Vernoux converted a penalty shot for her fourth goal early in the third quarter. UCLA scored the next four goals before Doyle scored twice. The left-hander scored on a no-look shot and later launched a shot from UH's half of the pool into an empty net with two seconds left in the quarter to make it 14-8. Doyle completed her hat trick with UH's final goal of the match at the 5:14 mark of the fourth quarter before UCLA closed out the win to end the 'Bows' eight-game winning streak.

The Rainbow Wahine return to Big West play to close out the regular season on Sunday when they face Cal State Fullerton (11-18, 0-5 Big West) at the Fullerton College pool. The opening sprint is scheduled for noon Pacific Time (9 a.m. Hawai'i Time).

UH clinched at least a share of the Big West regular-season championship with its win at UC San Diego on Thursday and can earn the crown outright with a win on Sunday.

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