A breakout performance for Hawaii center Connie Morris powered the Rainbow Wahine basketball team to a 79-70 win over UNLV on Sunday to close the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic.

Morris, who arrived at the Stan Sheriff Center with 11 points in three games this season, led UH with 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting and matched her season best with seven rebounds.

Guard Destiny King tied her season high with 14 points and dished out six assists, and Ashleigh Karaitiana finished with 13 points to help UH improve to 3-1.

"She’s got soft hands, she finishes really well around the basket," UH coach Laura Beeman said of Morris. "What I want to see from her is more dominance on the block.

"For her to be a presence is really big for us."

UH and UNLV had some unexpected downtime prior to their meeting as the opening game of the night was pushed back about 50 minutes when an elevator malfunction delayed Missouri’s arrival at the arena for the Tigers’ game with California.

The Tigers were on their way to the hotel lobby when the elevator doors didn’t open, trapping them inside for close to 90 minutes, according to Missouri’s media relations director. The Tigers were given water and cold towels during their wait and the fire department was called to assist.

The Missouri-Cal game was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the Tigers made it to the arena at about 4:45. After the delay, Cal pulled away in the second half to claim the tournament title and UH rebounded from Friday’s loss to the 14th-ranked Golden Bears to earn a split of the weekend.

"That was the goal," Beeman said. "We thought we could give Cal a run for their money and we did. It would have been nice to be 2-0, but the goal was definitely 1-1."

The Rainbow Wahine never trailed in the first half and went into halftime with a 42-37 advantage. UH worked the ball inside to Morris early and the junior center scored on three consecutive possessions as the Wahine built a 13-point lead. UNLV closed to three before Marissa Wimbley hit two 3-pointers to help UH maintain a cushion in its highest scoring half of the season.

Morris scored six of UH’s first eight points of the second half and the Wahine pushed the lead back to double digits and maintained control the rest of the way.

Danielle Miller led UNLV (2-2) with a game-high 26 points on 11-for-18 shooting.

No. 14 California 82, Missouri 70

The Golden Bears (4-0) pulled away from the Tigers (3-1) in the second half to claim the tournament title.

Cal forward Reshanda Gray scored 14 of her game-high 28 points in the Bears’ 16-2 run after Missouri took a 47-46 lead. Gray shot 9-for-10 from the field and guard Brittany Boyd finished with 16 points, nine assists and six steals.

Sierra Michaelis and Morgan Eye led Missouri with 17 points each.

HAWAII 79, UNLV 70

REBELS (2-2)

RAINBOW WAHINE (3-1)

Halftime — Hawaii 42, UNLV 37
3-point goals — UNLV 3-9 (Miller 2-2, Callaway 1-1, Rohde 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Smith 0-1,Cesarz 0-3). Hawaii 4-10 (Wimbley 2-3, King 1-1, Mason 1-2, Segovia 0-1, Karaitiana 0-3). Steals — UNLV 9 (Charles 3, Cesarz 2, Johnson 2, Wheatley, Bartee). Hawaii 5 (Kuehu, Karaitiana, Mason, Wimbley, Sampton). Turnovers — UNLV 18 (Cook 4, Johnson 3, Miller 3, Cesarz 2, Rohde 2, Callaway, Wheatley, Bartee, Charles). Hawaii 19 (Kuehu 6, King 5, Mason 2, Wimbley 2, Karaitiana, Harris, Toeaina, Segovia). Assists — UNLV 5 (Wheatley 2, Cahrles 2, Anderson). Hawaii 17 (King 6, Mason 3, Kuehu 2, Karaitiana 2, Toeaina 2, Wimbley, Segovia). Blocked shots — UNLV 5 (Rohde 2, Bartee 2, Wheatley). Hawaii none. Technical fouls — UNLV none. Hawaii none. Officials — Kim Mains, Kimberly Hobbs, Daniel Coda.
A — 1,638.