Who was that team?

They scored on the fast break, made every free throw that mattered, defended and even cracked a smile once in a while.

"It’d been a while," agreed Hawaii coach Dana Takahara-Dias on the last part.

The Rainbow Wahine didn’t just win, but blew out Boise State 69-53 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center to pick up their first Western Athletic Conference victory of the season.

UH snapped a nine-game losing streak and improved to 7-15 overall and 1-8 in the WAC, but remained in last place — for now. The Wahine have seven more regular-season games to improve their standing and put themselves in position to qualify for the WAC tournament.

With more efforts like last night’s, it’s possible. A crowd of 368 saw the Wahine hold the Broncos’ top two scorers to a combined 2-for-21 effort from the field as BSU shot just 24.6 percent to UH’s 39.6.

UH’s previous victory came on Dec. 29 against Cal State Bakersfield.

Wahine senior point guard Keisha Kanekoa played through a stomach virus to score a game-high 17 points, freshman wing Shawna Kuehu had an efficient 15 points and senior guard Megan Tinnin came off the bench to put in 12.

In the final regular-season WAC meeting between the teams, UH gave the Broncos (11-11, 2-6) something to think about.

For the last month, "lock down" was used only to describe what other teams would do to the Wahine, not the other way around.

But not this game. The biggest difference from BSU’s 69-63 win in Boise, Idaho, last month? Broncos sophomore forward Lauren Lenhardt — who tied the BSU scoring record with 37 points in that game — was held to just four points.

Takahara-Dias wrote only two things on the locker room board before the game: "Passion" and "effort."

The Wahine worked those back into their vocabulary, recalling their play in a 4-1 start to the season. They led by 14 at halftime and built that to 25 with 4 minutes left before the Broncos chipped away in garbage time.

UH’s front line did an effective job of beating Lenhardt to effective post position, making most of her shots off balance or contested. Lenhardt’s struggles inside (0-for-10) meant the Broncos had to look to the perimeter for points, but they were just as cold from there.

"The team didn’t know what defense we were going to run until right before tip-off," Takahara-Dias said. "It’s simple … play defense before your man gets the ball. Too late when your man gets the ball. You need to be in good position and anticipate."

Kanekoa, who was aggressive from the outset, had four assists and made all eight of her free-throw attempts. She was doubtful to play leading up to the game after feeling nauseous from the night before. The co-captain slept most of the day and was hooked up to an IV line before tipoff.

"This is one game that I really wanted to play," Kanekoa said. "I did what I could. … We gotta keep it going from here."

Kuehu had three steals, shot 5-for-6 from the field and 5-for-5 from the foul line. She offered a few fist pumps on big plays, but remained level-headed about the win.

"We were excited, but we weren’t overexcited," she said. "I think that’s good because we’re going to be pushing for everything."

UH wraps up its three-game homestand on Saturday against Idaho following its alumnae game.

At one point in the second half, the Wahine were 21-for-22 at the foul line. They finished 25-for-34.