LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine basketball team’s season came to a close with a 71-59 loss to New Mexico State in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, Wednesday night at the Orleans Arena in
LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine basketball team’s season came to a close with a 71-59 loss to New Mexico State in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, Wednesday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
UH ended the season 11-19 overall and 5-11 in the WAC.
The seventh-seeded Rainbow Wahine entered the game having won two of their last three regular-season games and split the season series with the No. 6 seed Aggies (14-17). UH got off to a strong start, but eventually succumbed in the second half to a hot-shooting Aggie squad who nailed a sizzling 62 percent of their shots after the break, including 7-of-10 from three-point territory, states a game report from the UH athletic department.
Breanna Arbuckle led UH with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Shawna-Lei Kuehu returned from a three-game absence to score 13 off the bench.
Freshman sensation Kamilah Jackson added 11 points and 10 rebounds to extend her freshman record of double-doubles to 13.
Jasmine Lowe scored 20 points, including 14 in the decisive second half to lead the Aggies. Tabytha Wampler posted 18 points and nine rebounds, while Danisha Corbett scored all but two of her 14 points in the second half. Lowe and Corbett combined for seven 3-pointers in the second half to help turn a one-point game at halftime into a double-digit win for the Aggies.
UH got off to a strong start and built a nine-point lead, 18-9, midway through the first half. NMSU eventually chipped away and the game was hotly-contested going into the break with the Aggies clinging to a 27-26 advantage.
However, NMSU broke the game open right out of the locker room. The Aggies started the second half on a 14-4 run to take a double-digit lead, 41-30, less than five minutes in. It was a lead they would not relinquish as the Rainbow Wahine would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
It was the final game for five seniors, including four-year players Keisha Kanekoa and Megan Tinnin. Kanekoa, who tallied seven points in her final game, concluded her career as the seventh-leading scorer in school history with 1,200 points, while Tinnin leaves as the school’s all-time leader in three-pointers made (165).
