LOS ANGELES » A second-half collapse prevented the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team from making school history on Saturday.

UH squandered a 10-point halftime lead as host USC rallied for a 66-55 win at the Galen Center.

Had Hawaii won, the Wahine (6-5) would have beaten the Trojans (6-5) for the first time in four meetings — and would have done so in coach Laura Beeman’s first trip to USC since taking over Hawaii’s program last year.

Beeman served as one of the Trojans’ assistant coaches for two seasons.

"It’s always nice to play in front of family and friends, and I want them to see how good these guys are," Beeman said as she pointed to her players after the game. "So when we play great, I puff my chest out."

The Wahine gave Beeman a chance to do that in the first half. USC held a 20-19 lead with 3:05 left before halftime when UH used a 14-3 surge to take a 33-23 lead at the break. The visitors made five of their final seven shots while holding the Trojans to six points — all on free throws — in the final 6:54 of the first half.

Ashleigh Karaitiana and Morgan Mason each scored eight points in the half, as the Wahine outrebounded USC 20-18.

"I thought we played beautiful basketball in the first half," Beeman said. "Our defense was very good. We were on point. We did a fantastic job on the boards. We missed some easy shots and lay-ups but our defense kept us in the game."

UH took early control despite Kamilah Jackson’s lack of output. Jackson, who amassed at least 10 points in each of her first 10 games, failed to score in the first half. She did not record a point until she made two free throws with 17:07 to play — and did not make a field goal until 3:42 remained.

Those two free throws gave the Wahine a 37-30 advantage. USC then embarked on a 10-0 blitz to take a 40-37 lead with 12:10 left.

"A lot of time, Mia takes herself out of games when she’s struggling," Beeman said. "She struggled with foul trouble and I think she was a little intimidated by Cassie Harberts. That’s unusual for Mia."

The 6-foot-2 Harberts, who led USC in scoring and rebounding last season while making the All-Pac-12 first team, had 13 points and six rebounds in the second half to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Diane Moore’s lay-in with 8:02 to play drew UH within two, at 44-42. But Desiree Bradley’s 3-point shot and Harberts’ lay-in extended the Trojans’ lead to 49-42 with 6:12 remaining. The Wahine made just one basket in the game’s final 3:42.

UH missed 21 of 28 field-goal attempts in the second half, while USC converted 13 of 23.

"It’s like an energy sucker," guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu said. "You play really good defense, you get a stop and you don’t get that reward. That’s when we have to stay within ourselves and not get down. But today, we weren’t hitting and we did let it get to us."

The Trojans played as dominantly on the glass, grabbing 27 rebounds in the second half and holding UH to nine.

"They outrebounded us horribly," said Beeman, calling the game "probably the first time all year that we’ve been outrebounded so badly.

"They came up with every loose ball there was," the coach added. "They overmatched our effort. We tried to match theirs, but you don’t win games when you try and match somebody."

Karaitiana led the Wahine with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Mason and Kuehu added 10 points apiece.