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The Hawaii women’s basketball team fell just short of preserving its undefeated home record in Big West play, falling 51-50 to UC Santa Barbara tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UCSB guard Nicole Nesbit had the go-ahead layup with 12.5 seconds left and UH (9-10, 5-3 BWC) could not muster a clean shot at the basket on two chances in the final nine seconds. The Wahine dropped to 3-1 at home in the Big West before the crowd of 793.
Junior forward Kamilah Martin scored 14 points with seven rebounds to lead the Rainbow Wahine. Junior wing Vicky Tagalicod added 11 points off the bench on 5-for-8 shooting.
In a back-and-forth game, Tagalicod briefly gave UH back the lead at 48-47 on a baseline layup with 3:12 to play.
She scored again on a baseline pull-up shot for a 50-49 lead with 1:30 left. UH got a stop on the next UCSB possession, but Tagalicod had the ball stolen from her and the Gauchos called timeout with 43.1 seconds left.
Destiny King was called for a foul going for a rebound and the Gauchos’ Kirsten Tilleman missed the 1-and-1 free throw. But she grabbed the offensive rebound and Nesbit drove to the basket for a 51-50 lead with 12.5 seconds to go.
UH dribbled upcourt and called timeout with nine seconds on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, UCSB forward Sweets Underwood broke up UH’s post pass and the ball went out of bounds back to UH, but with only 0.7 seconds on the clock.
Ashleigh Karaitiana’s inbounds pass was caught in midair by Pua Kailiawa, who’s desperation shot from the left elbow did not catch iron.
The teams traded the lead a few times until UH settled for a 25-23 halftime advantage.
