HENDERSON, NEV. >> Their best player — the league’s best player — was held to 1-for-7 shooting.

Another playmaker was shut out in the middle quarters.

But when it appeared their season might be tick-tick-ticking away, the top-seeded Hawaii Rainbow Wahine hit a key basket and then made a gritty defensive stand to secure Wednesday’s 48-47 victory over ninth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield at the Dollar Loan Center. The Wahine will play UC Riverside in Friday’s semifinal round of the Big West Championships in Henderson, Nev.

“We fought back,” said UH guard Daejah Phillips, who hit the go-ahead layup with 1:12 to play. “We took punches, we gave punches, and came back and got the ‘W.’”

The game ended in a scramble, when CSUB forward Vanessa Austin’s hook shot would not fall. Andie Easley emerged with the loose ball but her shot was off the mark as time expired.

“We were right there,” said CSUB forward Jayden Eggleston, fighting emotion.

After the game, CSUB coach Greg McCall recalled, UH coach Laura Beeman said the Roadrunners were deserving of the victory.

“With every ounce of blood in my body, every ounce of energy in my body, I believe we deserved to win that game,” McCall said. “We battled and we fought.”

In the fourth meeting between the teams this season, McCall designed schemes to deny UH forward Amy Atwell, who was named the Big West’s Player of the Year on Monday. Eggleston, a 6-foot-1 junior, accepted the assignment of tracking the 6-foot Atwell.

Atwell missed six of seven shots, including all three from behind the arc, in 36 minutes. Every time he thought of resting his star player, McCall was reminded by an assistant coach it should be Eggleston to make the call. Eggleston, who scored 18 points and played all 40 minutes, never asked to leave the court.

Phillips, who grew up in neighboring Las Vegas, took charge in the first quarter, scoring half of the Wahine’s points as they took a 14-7 lead. But Phillips would not score again until late in the fourth quarter.

With Atwell and Phillips contained, the Wahine relied on their transition defense. The Roadrunners could not parlay the Wahine’s 11 first-half turnovers into a single point. CSUB came away empty on three fast breaks off steals. They finished with five points off 14 UH turnovers.

Then guards Olivia Davies and Nae Nae Calhoun gave the Wahine an offensive boost. Even when Atwell is not scoring, Beeman said, “Amy is gravity. (Defenders) will go with her wherever she goes on the court. Because of that, it opens up the lane for other people because you’re not going to come off an Amy Atwell.”

The Roadrunners scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 40-39 lead with 5:52 to play. After the margin expanded to 45-40, Jacque David hit the Wahine’s first field goal of the fourth quarter with 3:25 to play.

UH trailed 47-46, when Phillips got the ball at the top of the key. “I kind of hesitated, and then I (saw) there was an opening,” Phillips said. “So I’m going to take this opening, and they’re either going to have to foul me or, if they split over, I had a kick-out.”

Phillips drove the right side of the lane for a layup to restore the Wahine lead at 48-47 with 1:12 to play.

Later, the Roadrunners were in-bounding with 8.7 seconds to play. McCall said there were three options. Pass to Austin for the shot. If the UH defender leaves Easley to double Austin, Easley would pop to a vacant space for the in-bounds pass. Austin also could screen across to free Eggleston to shoot or feed Austin.

The pass went to Austin. “We got a good shot,” McCall said. “We fought for the rebound. Andie got somehow bumped out of bounds on the offensive board, and so time ended. That’s my Gregg Popovich answer.”

UH’s Davies said: “We had to work hard for every possession and everything that we were doing. That was frustrating, but something we could overcome. This is tournament basketball. It’s going to be frustrating. It’s going to be tough just pushing through that kind of stuff.”