Amy Atwell’s jumper gave Hawaii the lead with 41 seconds left and the Rainbow Wahine hung on for a 66-60 win over Cal Poly on Saturday in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The visiting Rainbow Wahine scored the final seven points of the contest. Atwell’s ensuing free throw completed the three-point play for a 62-60 Hawaii lead.
Abbey Ellis missed a shot, but Cal Poly grabbed the offensive board and Atwell fouled with 24 seconds to go.
Gianna Silvestri, who hit a clutch shot in Cal Poly’s win on Friday, missed a 3-pointer and UH’s Kasey Neubert rebounded with 12 seconds left.
Cal Poly needed to foul three times before Hawaii reached the bonus. Freshman Daejah Phillips hit both sides of a one-and-one for a 64-60 Rainbow Wahine lead with 8 seconds left. Jadynn Alexander closed out the scoring with two more charity shots with 1 tick on the clock.
Hawaii split its series with the Mustangs and improved to 3-4 in Big West Conference play (4-5 overall). The Rainbow Wahine lost their first four games on the road until Saturday, including a 79-71 overtime loss to Cal Poly on Friday.
Cal Poly’s three-game win streak came to a halt as the Mustangs fell to 4-4 in league play (8-6 overall).
Alexander finished with 16 points and Phillips had 15 points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Atwell added 14 points for Hawaii, which had a nine-point lead in the third quarter.
Kelsie Imai, another Wahine freshman, had six points, seven assists and three steals. Neubert had a team-high eight boards to go with six points.
After being outrebounded 45-34 on Friday in a loss to Poly, Hawaii cut that margin to 38-33 on Saturday. Poly had five fewer offensive rebounds.
Hawaii plays at UC Santa Barbara next weekend.
Ellis led Cal Poly with 24 points and three steals. Sierra Campisano had 10 points and four rebounds.
Unlike Friday’s first quarter and the constant see-saw lead changes, Hawaii went ahead 3-2 and stayed in front. With balanced scoring, including four points from Phillips, the visitors led 20-18 entering the second quarter.
Campisano, who worked the paint successfully in Friday’s battle, scored back-to-back buckets to vault the Mustangs into the lead.
Maddie Vick’s 3 opened Cal Poly’s lead to 27-23, but Hawaii regained the lead with an 8-0 run. The Rainbow Wahine led 31-29 at intermission.
Phillips had a personal-best 11 points in the first half. Hawaii shot just 5-for-17 from the arc just 24 hours after splashing 15 trifectas against the Mustangs, but a low turnover count (four) helped.
