It didn’t look like a milestone night at first for Kamilah Martin.

The Hawaii women’s basketball team struggled in the early going, but Martin and the Rainbow Wahine took over down the stretch and prevailed 71-63 against UC Davis in Davis, Calif., on Saturday.

Martin scored 18, including 12 in the final 9:10, to become the program’s 17th 1,000-point scorer. She needed 16 to reach the mark entering the game.

"That’s a great feeling, but it’s even better to get the win along with that and get the game ball," said Martin, who had just two points at halftime. "(Teammate) Kanisha Bello came up to me in the middle of the game and said ‘congratulations.’"

UH (8-9, 4-2 Big West) improved to 2-2 on the road in league play and remained in the upper tier of the Big West standings going into Thursday’s home game against Cal Poly.

Redshirt freshman Ashleigh Karaitiana was also instrumental in the win, scoring 16 of her career-high 22 points in the first half. She also had four steals and grabbed nine rebounds. Martin snagged eight boards as UH won that battle 48-31.

Martin, a junior from the Bay Area, got to celebrate her achievement with family and friends afterward.

"We’re all really excited for her, and happy she was able to make the milestone, even as a junior, that’s a great accomplishment," Karaitiana said. "We’re really proud of her."

Karaitiana matched her previous best of 16 by halftime as the Wahine led 37-36 at the break. They overcame an eight-point deficit out of the gate.

"We had a little bit more composure on offense and made some adjustments at halftime with what we needed to run, and the girls executed it very well," UH coach Laura Beeman said.

Turnovers cost the Wahine dearly in a 71-61 loss at Pacific on Thursday, and giveaways (21) were a problem again in this one. UC Davis (6-10, 1-4) took a 50-46 lead at the midpoint of the second half until UH went up for good when Monica DeAngelis hit a 3 and Sydney Haydel followed with a jumper.

The Aggies cut an eight-point deficit to 61-59 with 3:19 left, but Kalei Adolpho scored inside and Karaitiana hit a 3-pointer to separate again.

Martin’s layup with 1:28 to play made it 68-61 and UH held on comfortably from there.

"We needed her to come up big and she did," Beeman said of Martin. "That’s just her and what she does. It was a hard match, but she seems to find a way."