Effort generates focus.

Lack of effort, lack of focus.

It showed in the gaps of concentration the Hawaii women’s basketball team had Friday against Colorado State in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown. The lack of energy that had marked this week’s practices returned to haunt Hawaii, resulting in a 65-60 overtime loss to the Rams at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Senior forward Kamilah Jackson turned in her fourth consecutive double-double of the season — 47th of her career — with game highs of 17 points and 16 rebounds. But her performance mirrored that of her team’s, taking a long time to get going.

Jackson was held to two free throws over the first 30 minutes and "it shows we cannot be a one-man team," junior forward Ashleigh Karaitiana said. "Mia (Jackson) makes us better but we can’t continue to rely on her.

"I think we were all waiting for someone else to step up. We definitely didn’t play our game. The coaches had us well prepared. We just didn’t execute."

The Wahine (3-3) will have little time to regroup, with a 2:30 p.m. game today against Chattanooga. The Mocs fell short against Minnesota, 63-62, in Friday’s opener.

The Gophers (6-1) face the Rams (4-1) today at noon.

Senior guard Shawna Kuehu added 13 points and Karaitiana 10 for Hawaii. CSU was led by freshman forward Elin Gustavsson’s 17 points. Junior guard AJ Newton and sophomore guard Caitlin Duffy each finished with 14 points. Duffy had a team-high 10 rebounds.

UH coach Laura Beeman knew it was going to be a tough night when the Wahine missed five shots on their first possession.

COLORADO STATE 65, HAWAII 60, OT RAMS (4-1)

"We did not have a good week of practice," she said. "There was a lack of focus and it was there again tonight. We did not have the effort there for maybe 25 minutes of the game tonight.

"It all goes back to effort and execution. We need to have that for the full 40 minutes and, if it’s overtime, the full 45. If we hit our free throws, we’d be having a different conversation."

Indeed. The Wahine were 18-for-31 from the line, 9-for-15 in the second half when keeping it close.

Hawaii was able to tie but never led in the second half, the last tie coming at 52-52 on Briana Harris’ basket with 1:38 in regulation. CSU had a chance to avoid overtime with Ellen Nystrom at the line, but the freshman guard missed both free throws with eight-tenths of a second left.

Newton opened overtime with a dagger of a 3-pointer 35 seconds in and Hawaii played catch-up the rest of the way. Jackson’s two free throws at the 3:24 mark would be the only points the Wahine would manage until the last 36 seconds.

"We have these little breaks, little spurts when we weren’t all there," Karaitiana said. "The little things add up. They’re fixable. But we need to step up and fix them as a team."

MINNESOTA 63, CHATTANOOGA 62

Mocs sophomore guard Tatianna Jackson had the game-tying free throw bounce off the rim with 1.5 seconds remaining and the Gophers survived to win their fourth straight.

Junior guard Rachel Banham led Minnesota with 36 points, 22 in the second half. The captain hit all three of her 3-point attempts and was 11-for-12 from the line. Freshman center Amanda Zahui grabbed 13 rebounds.

Senior forward Taylor Hall led Chattanooga with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jackson finished with 16 points.

Minnesota, which had led by as many as 14 in the first half, led 63-59 with 1:02 to go. Hall’s layup closed the gap to 63-61 with 34 seconds left. After Banham’s jumper fell short, Chattanooga quickly got the ball up court to Jackson, who was fouled by Sari Noga. Jackson, a 70 percent free-throw shooter, made the first but missed the second.