There’s refusing to lose.

Then there’s being really stubborn about it.

Really stubborn.

That’s what it took for the Hawaii women’s basketball team to claim a road victory over a Pac-10/Pac-12 school for just the second time in 24 tries. The Rainbow Wahine used a 19-2 closing run, including scoring 17 unanswered points, to rally for a 65-60 nonconference victory over Arizona on Sunday in Tucson, Ariz.

“When a team is not afraid to fight this is what happens,” Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said in a telephone call. “This is a team that fights. This is a team that refuses to lose a game they think they should be winning.

“Our girls showed a lot of moxie. They didn’t give up. Any time you can win ugly on the road against a Pac-12 team in their arena, down the way by as many as we were, is big.”

Hawaii looks to continue the momentum when closing out the trip against two Top 25 teams in the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas. The Wahine (6-4) face No. 19 Texas A&M on Wednesday and No. 9 Oregon on Friday at the Cox Pavilion. (Both games start at 10 a.m. HST).

The Wahine will need the same type of balanced scoring against the Aggies and Ducks in order to be as successful as they were in the McKale Center. Hawaii had four players in double figures on Sunday: senior guard Sarah Toeaina (14), junior guard Tia Kanoa (14, her UH career high), sophomore forward Makenna Woodfolk (12) and sophomore guard Julissa Tago (11). Key, also, were rebounding and getting to the free-throw line, something the Wahine did not do until late against the Wildcats (3-7).

Hawaii did not go to the line the entire first half while Arizona was 7-for-8 to take a 30-28 lead at intermission. The Wahine were 14-for-22 the rest of the way, and were clutch in the last six minutes, hitting 8-for-11.

Hawaii trailed 58-46 with 6:35 left when Woodfolk rebounded a missed shot by Kanoa and hit a short shot that jump-started the 17-0 run. Toeaina’s jumper tied it at 58 with 4:05 to go and after both teams went scoreless nearly three minutes, she added a free throw with 1:30 remaining to give Hawaii its first lead since 28-27 late in the second quarter at 59-58.

Woolfoord came up big 20 seconds later when blocking a shot by Marlee Kyles that eventually led to a layup by Toeaina and a 61-58 lead. Sam Thomas brought the Wildcats to within 63-60 with 16 seconds to go but Toeaina iced it with two free throws for the final margin.

Sophomore guard Lucia Alonza finished with a career-high 21 points and Thomas, a freshman forward, added 13 for the Wildcats (3-7).

“We were able to turn up our defense and turn up the pace on offense,” Beeman said. “In the last six minutes, they started missing some of the shots that had been falling for them and we started hitting some that hadn’t for us earlier.

“Their athleticism affected us but our girls didn’t give up. Tia (at the point) stayed composed and did everything we needed her to do, including score. She really facilitated the offense.

The only other time Hawaii won on the road against a Pac-10/Pac-12 team was at Oregon State on Dec. 20, 1989. The No. 21 Wahine, led by the late Judy Mosely, defeated the Beavers, 91-59.