A scenario that didn’t exactly have the makings of a landmark win for the Hawaii women’s basketball team nonetheless ended in "bedlam" for the Rainbow Wahine.

That was the way UH coach Dana Takahara-Dias described it after her team picked up a 61-49 win at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

UH players, because of distant travel from New Mexico State on Friday, did not get to practice leading into the matchup. Then the crowd at the Thomas Assembly Center was loud and riding high on a 22-point win by the LaTech men’s basketball team in the first game of a doubleheader.

But the Rainbow Wahine, undaunted, stole the energy by outscoring the traditional women’s hoops powerhouse by 14 in the second half.

It was UH’s second win in Ruston, La., in 11 meetings there, and first home-and-home sweep of the Techsters since they joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2001-02. UH picked up its fifth win in the series against 24 losses.

"It’s always a tough place to compete, much less win," Takahara-Dias said in a postgame phone interview. "This win was very, very gratifying and huge for our program."

Sophomore forward Kamilah Jackson led the way for fourth-place UH (10-15, 5-5 WAC) with 19 points and nine rebounds, and senior post Breanna Arbuckle added 10 points and 11 rebounds — her first double-double of the season —as UH outrebounded the hosts 47-33.

That was more than enough to make up for 23 UH turnovers. Still, third-place LaTech (14-12, 7-4) cut an 11-point UH lead to two with 3:30 to play, but the Wahine responded with big baskets and free throws to push it back to double digits in the final minute.

LaTech has been held in the forties twice this season — both meetings with UH.

"I can attribute it to the fact that tonight our ladies had the will to compete and the fire to finish," Takahara-Dias said. "They came marching back on us, and we got some really big buckets from Vicky Tagalicod, Breanna Arbuckle.

"When you shoot 92 percent (11-for-12) from the free-throw line in the second half, you feel pretty confident finishing the game. … It was such a great team effort tonight."

Tagalicod scored 11 points and point guard Alissa Campanero added 10, including 7-for-7 shooting at the foul line.

With wins at NMSU and LaTech, UH swept its first two-game WAC road trip since 2006-07, the same season that UH got its only previous win in Ruston.

UH trailed 26-24 at halftime but scored the first five points of the second half.