Pacific Holds Off Hawai`i, 71-61 - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Pacific Holds Off Hawai`i, 71-61

STOCKTON, Calif.—(Hawaii Athletics) The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team (7-9, 3-2 Big West) battled all game long, but in the end could not recover from an early 16-point deficit.Kamilah Martin and Shawna-Lei Kuehu both scored 18 points to lead UH on offense while Kalei Adolpho and Ashleigh Karaitiana had a game-high seven rebounds apiece to pace the 'Bows.
 
Martin's 18 points leaves her just 16 points shy of hitting the 1,000-point milestone. She was 6-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the free-throw line with five rebounds. Martin had two offensive boards that tied her with former Rainbow Wahine Tanya Smith (2004-08) for second all-time with 302 and her three defensive rebounds pushed her past Christen Roper (1999-2003) for third place alone with 501.  Martin also had an assist, a block and a steal in 33 minutes of action.
 
Kuehu's 18 points tied her career high from two season's ago (at Boise State 1/15/11) . Kuehu also tied her career-high making eight field goals and tied her season high with three steals. She also had an assist and four rebounds coming off the bench.

Vicky Tagalicod got her first start of the season at the point, scoring nine points with two assists and two steals, while Karaitiana not only had a game-high in rebounds but also assists with four which tied her career-high. 
 
In the first half, the 'Bows led a tight game through the first five minutes, but UH got off-track when Pacific mounted a 20-to-2 run that was fueled by eight UH turnovers. UOP's run--which included four treys--allowed them to go up by 15 points with 10 minutes left. UH did not back down though, going on an 8-0 run on 6-of-6 shooting from the free throw line and a jumper by Kuehu to be down by just seven points, 27-20 with 7:00 left in the half. But the Tigers roared back then went back up on an 11-2 run that staggered Hawai`i and never quite recovered from, pushing their lead to 38-24 with 3:51 left on the clock. In all, UH committed a season-high 21 first-half turnovers which led to 23 UOP points.
 
After a frustrating first half, UH settled down and managed to execute against the Tiger's 2-1-2-half court trapping zone much better, turning it over just six times in the second half. Kuehu poured in 10 points and fired up the team down the stretch, but UH could not overcome its large early deficit as Pacific was always able counter. Hawai`i had whittled down the UOP lead to just six points on three separate occasions within the last four minutes of the game—the last one came on a pull-up jumper by Kuehu with 45-seconds left. But the 'Bows had to start fouling and UOP came through making clutch free throws that sealed the game.
 
Pacific had three players register double-digits in points, led by Kendal Rodriguez who tallied 18 points—15 of which came on 5-of-8 shooting from behind the arch. Kendall Kenyon and Erica McKenzie both scored 12 apiece.  
 
As a team, UH did well on the glass, outrebounding UOP, 44-to-29 and outscored Pacific in the paint 30-to-28 and off the bench, 24-to-17. However, the Tigers held the advantage in scoring off of UH's many miscues, 29-to-18 and in second chance points 12-to-5.
 
Hawa`i concludes its third roadtrip of the season at UC Davis this Saturday, Jan. 19 at 2:00 pm.