Things were not looking good. On the road, down by five with 5:25 left, a couple of starters in foul trouble and Hawaii was looking at the very bleak reality of losing a third straight game.

"Going into Cal Poly (on Saturday) with three losses in a row … it likely would have meant being 0-and-4 on this trip," Rainbow Wahine basketball coach Laura Beeman said of facing the Big West leader. "It would have been a really tough battle. But now we have life."

Thanks to stellar free-throw shooting (22-for-24), including a clutch 4-for-4 performance by Shawna Kuehu in the final 25 seconds, Hawaii rallied past host UC Santa Barbara 63-60 Thursday night in Santa Barbara, Calif. Kuehu finished with a team-high 15 points. Kamilah Jackson added 14 as the Rainbow Wahine (11-9, 5-3 Big West) moved into a tie for third place in the conference standings with UC Davis.

Up next is Cal Poly (13-8, 7-1), a team that left the San Sheriff Center a month ago with a 78-74 overtime victory. It was head-shaking loss for Hawaii, which led 64-60 with 11 seconds left in regulation and had it slip away.

And it doesn’t help that the Mustangs, on a five-game winning streak, haven’t played since last Saturday. The Rainbow Wahine have been on the road for 11 days.

"The league didn’t do us any favors with the schedule, but it is what it is," Beeman said. "It was a tough loss and now we have to get them. We’ll need to do a better job at containment and on the pick-and-rolls. But I like our position."

Hawaii had lost its last two by a combined five points, including a two-point loss at Cal State Northridge last Saturday. It began to feel like deja vu with UCSB (6-15, 1-7) seemingly in control at 56-51 with 5:25 to go.

Briana Harris’ two free throws jumpstarted an 8-0 Hawaii run that included two layups and two free throws by Jackson, putting the Wahine ahead for good. The Gauchos closed to within 59-58 and 61-60 in the final minute, but both times Kuehu knocked down her two foul shots.

Melissa Zorning led UCSB with 16 points, 12 in the first half.

"Obviously, Kuehu was huge for us tonight," Beeman said. "She led us with her composure and her free throws."

BIG WEST WOMEN 

Thursday

Hawaii 63, UC Santa Barbara 60
UC Irvine 78, Long Beach State 58
CSU Fullerton 60, UC Riverside 57
UC Davis 82, CS Northridge 74

Saturday

Hawaii at Cal Poly, noon
UC Davis at UC Irvine
UC Riverside at Long Beach State
CS Northridge at CS Fullerton

HAWAII 63, UC SANTA BARBARA 60

RAINBOW WAHINE (11-9, 5-3 BIG WEST)

GAUCHOS (6-15, 1-7 BIG WEST) 

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers.
Note: minutes played were not reported correctly from UCSB sports information office. 

Halftime — Hawaii 24, UC Santa Barbara 23.

3-point goals — Hawaii 1-5 (Kailiawa 1-1, Mason 0-1, Harris 0-1, Moore 0-1, Karaitiana 0-1). UCSB 5-8 (Zorning 2-4, Mason 1-1, Brance 1-1, Ware 1-1, Nesbit 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 4 (Kailiawa 2, Kuehu, Karaitiana). UCSB 7 (Mason 4, Nesbit 2, Ware). Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Kuehu, Kailiawa). UCSB 1 (Mason). Technical foul — none. Officials — Julie Krommenhoek, Tiffany Jump, Skelly Wingard. A — 311.