Keisha Kanekoa hit a clutch go-ahead putback of a Sydney Haydel miss with about 8 seconds left to send the Hawaii women’s basketball team to a key 55-53 win over San Jose State tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

After the UH senior point guard made it 54-53, SJSU had 6.3 seconds to score on its final possession. But Kanekoa drew a charge on Spartans forward Brittany Johnson along the baseline and the Rainbow Wahine held on.

Seventh-place UH (10-17, 4-10 WAC) equaled last season’s win total and all but sealed a trip to the Western Athletic Conference tournament by keeping SJSU (2-24, 2-11) below it in the standings.

Kanekoa led the Wahine with 20 points and five assists. Freshman forward Kamilah Jackson added 12 points and nine rebounds and senior guard Megan Tinnin chipped in 11 points. Junior forward Breanna Arbuckle had 13 rebounds and stole SJSU’s inbounds pass with 2.8 seconds left to extinguish the visitors’ remaining hope.

Tinnin hit consecutive 3-pointers to give UH a 37-34 lead in the second half, but the Spartans went right back up and led until the final minute.