SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team completed a sweep of its Central Coast road trip with a 58-52 win at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (16-10, 10-6 Big West) went on a 14-3 run in the fourth quarter to break away from the host Gauchos (18-8, 10-7) and held on for their fourth straight win and 10
th in their last 11 games. With the win, UH jumped past UCSB into fifth place in the Big West standings.
Imani Perez hit three 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 14 points and fellow senior
Saniyah Neverson posted her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Freshman guard
Bailey Flavell contributed 12 points and seven rebounds and
Keiara Curtis dished out four assists and came up with three steals.
Jade Peacock scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter to help UH earn a sweep of the regular-season series with UCSB.
The Gauchos tied a UH opponent record with 41 3-point attempts and hit 10 from long range. Skylar Burke hit three from behind the arc and led UCSB with a game-high 16 points. Zoe Borter also connected on three 3-pointers and added 12. As a team, the Gauchos shot 26.6% from the field overall and UH held an opponent under 60 points for the 12
th straight game.
The teams combined to take 11 of the game's first 12 shots from 3-point range in the first five minutes, hitting one each. UH went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-3 lead before the Gauchos scored nine straight, all coming from beyond the arc. Flavell knocked down another 3-pointer to give UH a 13-12 lead as time expired in the first quarter.
UH led 27-20 when Perez hit a 3-pointer at the 2:29 mark of the second quarter before UCSB scored the final five points of the quarter to make it a two-point margin at halftime.
The 'Bows maintained a lead until UCSB went on a 6-0 run to take its second lead of the game at 35-34 late in the third quarter. Curtis came up with a steal and drew a foul on her way to the bucket and her two free throws pushed UH ahead to send the 'Bows in the fourth up 36-35.
Borter tied the game with a free throw 29 seconds into the fourth, but Peacock answered with a layup off an assist from Neverson. A steal by Neverson led to a UH fast break with Curtis feeding Peacock for another layup. UH lead grew to 11 when Flavell hit a 3-pointer at the 5:40 mark. UH led by at least six the rest of the way with Perez and Flavell hitting four free throws in the final 18 seconds to finish off the win.
The Rainbow Wahine return to Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center for their final homestand of the season. They'll face UC Davis on Thursday, Feb. 26, which will be this season's "Pink Game." UH will celebrate Senior Night following the home finale against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Feb. 28.
#HawaiiWBB
