RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside hosted Hawaii on Thursday evening at the SRC Arena, playing another close game with the Rainbow Wahine in a 60-49 defeat. 

UCR and UH matched each other in the first quarter with a 40 percent field goal clip and 50 percent from three on both sides, but a 12-5 rebounding edge - including 6-1 on the offensive glass - helped the Highlanders gain a four-point edge after 10 minutes. 

The Highlanders bullied Hawaii inside early on with ultimately a 9-1 edge in offensive rebounds by halftime. 

Jordan Webster enjoyed another double-digit performance with a game-high 20 points while Matehya Bryant inched towards another double double with seven points and 10 rebounds. In addition to her two assists and a steal, Bryant also became the first Highlander since Marina Ewodo in 2018 with five blocks in a game. 

Bryant accounted for five of UCR's season-high seven rejections and is now four rebounds shy of entering UCR's Division I single-season top 10, while Webster saw her free throw streak end at 29 consecutive makes despite putting up her fourth 20-point game of the season. 

A pair of free throws from Webster gave UCR its largest lead of the evening at 11 for a second time after Hawaii broke a nearly four-minute scoring drought. The Highlanders' first 11-point advantage came courtesy of an inside jumper from Julia Stenberg with just over two minutes remaining until halftime. 

Esther Matarranz also had a monster game on the glass with eight rebounds, one shy of a career high. The Barcelona native also put up four points and two blocks. 

The Highlanders owned a 31-20 lead in what seemed to be a comfortable rhythm, but Hawaii turned it on in the second half with a 20-4 run that proved to be too much for UC Riverside despite Bryant grabbing seven of her 10 boards after the intermission. 

UC Riverside will play its final road game on Thursday, March 2 at UC Irvine at 7:00 p.m. before next Saturday's Senior Night against Cal Poly.