Rebounds win games. Defense wins championships.

Hawaii’s mantra held true Saturday night as the Rainbow Wahine basketball team continued on the road to its first conference title since the 1993-94 campaign.

Behind senior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu’s fourth double-double of the year (12 points, 13 rebounds) and a defense that held and held during the final frantic 10.1 seconds, a season-high crowd of 1,989 in the Stan Sheriff Center saw Hawaii hold off UC Davis 62-60 for its 11th straight victory. Senior guard Ashleigh Karaitiana added 11 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 88 seconds to go and freshman center Megan Huff came off the bench also for 11 as the Rainbow Wahine (19-7, 11-2) expanded their conference lead to 21⁄2 games over the second-place Aggies (13-11, 8-4).

Hawaii was coming off Thursday’s 75-37 blowout of UC Irvine and "that was a good win, but to grind out a game like this against a really good team like Davis is more satisfying," said Kuehu, whose two free throws with 29.9 seconds remaining proved to be the difference. "This also shows we have a lot to work on."

"This was a big game, first (place) against second, and they made us work for it," Karaitiana added. "They were making us work and making us better as a team."

Defense has been a point of pride for the Rainbow Wahine, who led the Big West in stinginess (54.4 ppg) coming into this week. It came up big Saturday night after sophomore guard Bri Harris missed what would have been two game-icing free throws with 15.1 seconds left, leaving the score at 62-60.

The Aggies called a timeout five seconds later to set up their offense. Given that Davis had hit 17 3-pointers Thursday against Long Beach State, some thought the Aggies would chance it behind the arc … except that the Rainbow Wahine’s perimeter game had only allowed the visitors two 3-pointers in 10 attempts.

"We didn’t want to change what we had been doing," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. "We knew we didn’t want to give up a 3 and we had a feeling that they’d put their heads down and attack (inside)."

Logic dictated that it would be senior forward Sydnee Fipps who would take the last shot. Her free throw with 32 seconds to go had given her 20 points — her school-record 32nd career game of 20 points or more — and the ball ended up in her hands to the left of the key as the clock ticked down.

Fipps’ desperation shot was short and Harris secured the rebound, giving Hawaii its best conference start since the 2000-01 team opened 10-2.

"Hats off to Davis, they’re a great team," Beeman said. "I’m glad this one was at home in front of an awesome crowd.

"It was not the prettiest game. What won it was our offensive rebounding and second-chance points. And we stopped turning over the ball. When our offense stalled, it was our defense that kept us in the game."

Saturday was Play4Kay, a designated "wear pink" game in honor of breast cancer awareness. It was anything but rosy for the Wahine early against the Aggies.

As happened Thursday against UC Irvine, the lid on Hawaii’s basket felt shut tight. The Rainbow Wahine had good looks, open looks, and often just one look when starting 0-for-6 and 1-for-11.

The Aggies crashed the boards, denying second chances while sprinting out to leads of 12-0 and 16-4.

And as happened Thursday against the Anteaters, it was a 3-pointer by Karaitiana that sparked Hawaii’s offense. Her trey with 11:26 left jump-started an 11-0 run that pulled the Rainbow Wahine to within 16-15 with 8:46 remaining.

Davis used a mini run to pull ahead at 22-16. A 3-pointer by Harris got Hawaii going again and the Rainbow Wahine held the Aggies to one basket and a missed free throw in tying it at 25 on a threading drive by Kuehu at the 2:29 mark.

Hawaii’s first lead came 81 seconds later on a turnaround jumper from freshman center Megan Huff. Two free throws by Davis freshman forward Pele Gianotti tied it briefly at 27, with Destiny King’s jumper 11 seconds later giving the Rainbow Wahine a 29-27 halftime lead.

The teams traded scoring spurts in the second half, Hawaii up by as many as five (39-34) and Davis by three (56-53). The Rainbow Wahine scored seven unanswered to take the lead for good, capping it with Karaitiana’s 3-pointer of the game from the right corner, her second of the game.

Karaitiana had missed a 3-point attempt from the left less than a minute earlier. She said that senior forward Shawlina Segovia had given her some encouraging words during the timeout that preceded the trey.

"She told me big players make big shots," Karaitiana said.

Saturday

Hawaii , UC Davis

UC Santa Barbara 48, CS Fullerton 39

CSUN 82, UC Irvine 60

Cal Poly 70, UC Riverside 65

Halftime — Hawaii 29, UC Davis 27

3-point goals — UC Davis 2-10 (Nagel 2-3, Fipps 0-1, Marfone 0-1, Beyer 0-1, McGuire 0-1, Nafekh 0-3). Hawaii 3-16 (Karaitiana 2-7, Harris 1-5, Segovia 0-1, Wimbley 0-3). Steals — UC Davis 7 (Fipps, Doherty, Salvatore, Harris, Nagel, Gianotti, McGuire). Hawaii 9 (Huff 3, Kuehu 2, Karaitiana 2, Wimbley, Harris). Turnovers — UC Davis 17 (Doherty 4, Nafekh 4, Fipps 3, Harris 2, Gianotti 2, Marfone, Beyer). Hawaii 12 (Segovia 4, Harris 2, Kuehu 2, King, Morris, Huff, TEAM). Assists — UC Davis 8 (Fipps 3, Marfone, Harris, Nagel, Beyer, Nafekh). Hawaii 15 (Kuehu 7, Harris 4, Wimbley 2, King, Morris). Blocked shots — UC Davis 3 (Doherty, Nagel, Beyer). Hawaii 2 (Toeaina, Kuehu). Technical fouls — UC?Davis none. Hawaii none. Officials — Kyle Bacon, Andy Wolf, Ethan Kahoano. A — 1,989.