Keilanei Cooper
Carlos Puma
60
Winner UC Riverside UCR 9-11, 3-3
55
Hawaii UH 7-12, 3-3
Winner
UC Riverside UCR
9-11, 3-3
60
Final
55
Hawaii UH
7-12, 3-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UC Riverside UCR 18 16 17 9 60
Hawaii UH 8 13 11 23 55

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Withstands Second-Half Surge by Hawaii to Win Third Conference Game

HONOLULU—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball team withstood a second-half surge from Hawaii on Wednesday to pick up a 60-55 win. It marked the team's third conference win and second straight win.

The Highlanders (9-11, 3-3) got out to a strong start, beginning the game on an 8-0 run. The team distributed the ball well in the quarter, with four of the five starters scoring. The team shot 42.1 percent from the field and held Hawaii to just eight points to head into the second quarter with an 18-8 lead.

UCR went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the second quarter and led by as much as 18 points, before going into halftime with a 34-21 lead. Jannon Otto led all scorers with 14 points (7-for-11) in the first half.

The Highlanders had another successful third quarter, outscoring Hawaii by six points to take a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. During the quarter, the team took its largest lead of the game (20) with a little under eight minutes left.

The tide began to turn as the Rainbow Wahine slowly chipped away at UCR's lead in the fourth quarter. Much of that was due to UH choosing to implement a full-court press. The Highlanders committed nine turnovers in the period and went just 3-for-6 from the field.

Meanwhile, UH went 10-for-17 and were led by Leah Salanoa, who had eight points (3-for-3) in the quarter, and Jadynn Alexander, who had six points (3-for-4).

Things got tight the last two minutes of the game, but the clock was on UCR's side. Salanoa hit a three pointer with 2:12 left to cut the team's lead to five points and then scored a layup with 1:08 left to cut things to a one possession game.

Otto finished the game with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Daphne Gnago fell one rebound shy of a double-double. She had 10 points and nine rebounds.

The team won the game even with a large disparity in free throw attempts. UCR went into the fourth quarter having shot no free throws, while Hawaii went 12-for-21 during the game. UCR's first free throw came with 5:16 left.

The team's next game will be on Saturday against UCSB at 2 p.m. at the SRC Arena.