It was a different site but the same result for the Hawaii women’s basketball team.
The Rainbow Wahine rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter at San Diego State to take a lead on Leah Salanoa’s free throws with 1:27 left. But SDSU’s Tea Adams drove for the go-ahead basket with 7.1 seconds remaining and UH was off the mark on its final possession in a 58-57 loss Friday afternoon at Viejas Arena.
UH, 0-2 for the second time in three years, lost in similar fashion at home to Pepperdine on Tuesday, 65-64. The Waves hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left and the Wahine could not answer coming out of a timeout.
“It was a pretty frustrated, pretty sad locker room,” coach Laura Beeman said in a postgame phone interview. “You put yourself in position to win a ballgame and you don’t, it hurts. And this is the second game with a one-point loss. There’s things we have to continue to work on and clean up.”
On its final possession, UH called timeout to advance the ball and set up a play. Guard Courtney Middap drove from the top of the key all the way to the rim, but her layup bounced off and out of bounds with 0.6 seconds left. The Aztecs inbounded and the game ended before the Wahine could take a foul.
“She makes that nine out of 10 times,” Beeman said. “It was a great look. We wanted a layup and we got a layup. So I’m happy with the look we got.”
Kenna Woodfolk led UH with 16 points. Salanoa scored all of her 15 points in the second half and grabbed six rebounds.
Julissa Tago scored 12 of her 13 points in the first half for UH, which trailed 32-25 at halftime and 49-40 going into the fourth.
Adams scored a team-high 15 points for the Aztecs (1-0). Before Adams’ game-winning shot, Tia Kanoa missed an open 3 that could’ve pushed the UH lead to four with 40 seconds left.
The Wahine finish their road trip at San Diego (0-1) at noon on Sunday.