In a word, physical.

The two most aggressive basketball teams in the Big West went head-to-head, toe-to-toe and — sometimes — elbow-to-elbow at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday.

Long Beach State was tough. Hawaii was tougher when holding off the 49ers 72-64.

Led by senior guard Shawna-Lei Kuehu’s 15 points and calming influence when things got frantic and frenetic, the Rainbow Wahine (12-7, 4-2) won their fourth consecutive conference game, creating quite a logjam in the Big West standings.

Hawaii finds itself a half-game behind Cal Poly (10-9, 5-2) and tied for second with Long Beach State (17-3, 4-2), a turn of events that few expected a week ago when the 49ers were riding a 15-game winning streak.

Instead, Long Beach State leaves with its second consecutive loss, having been outmuscled on the boards 44-26. Wahine senior forward Shawlina Segovia made that her misson, finishing with a career-high 15 rebounds and adding 14 points for her first career double-double. Junior guard Destiny King added 12 points, including hitting all four free throws in the final 39 seconds.

"This was a really good win for us," Segovia said after playing a team-high 33 minutes. "They’re a hard team to play but we beat them because of our energy."

And composure down the stretch. The 49ers closed hard, pulling to 65-60 with 89 seconds to go.

The Wahine pushed back, outscoring the visitors 7-4 in the final minute. It started with Connie Morris’ key follow shot followed by five free throws, four by King and one from Ashleigh Karaitiana.

It was a game that saw 49 fouls called and 64 free throws taken.

"I’m really impressed with our girls," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. "We got punched by them and we punched back.

"Shawna does what seniors do, she showed composure, leadership and emotion, leading the charge for a while.

"Long Beach throws a lot of defenses at you, keeps up the pressure, and at times it feels like there’s 16 people out there guarding you. I think we’re more than ready to go Saturday."

Hawaii hosts CSUN (14-7, 4-3) in a 5 p.m. game. Also Saturday is an alumnae game at 2 p.m. and the retiring of the jersey of the late All-American Judy Mosley-McAfee.

HAWAII 72, LONG BEACH STATE 64

Halftime — Hawaii 38, Long Beach State 27
3-point goals — LBSU 4-12 (Sanchez 2-2, Spargo 2-4, Montgomery 0-1, Meneses 0-2, Benton 0-3). Hawaii 1-10 (Karaitiana 1-3, Mason 0-1, King 0-2, Harris 0-2, Segovia 0-2). Steals — LBSU 7 (Montgomery 2, Benton 2, Kim, Sawyer, Dooley). Hawaii 6 (Harris 2, Kuehu 2, King, Huff). Turnovers — LBSU 15 (Benton 4, Spargo 3, Montgomery 2, Hudson 2, Kim 2, Sanchez, Sawyer). Hawaii 22 (Mason 4, King 4, Segovia 4, Karaitiana 2, Harris 2, Kuehu 2, Huff 2, Morris, TEAM). Assists — LBSU 9 (Benton 4, Montgomery, Hudson, Meneses, Kim, Sanchez). Hawaii 11 (Mason 3, Kuehu 3, King 2, Harris 2, Segovia). Blocked shots — LBSU 2 (Montgomery, Hudson). Hawaii 2 (Kuehu 2). Technical fouls — LBSU none. Hawaii none. Officials — Marianne Karp, Erick Thome, Daniel Coda. A — 799

BIG WEST WOMEN

Thursday
Hawaii 72, Long Beach State 64
UC Riverside 68, CSUN 56
UC Irvine 61, UC Santa Barbara 54
Cal Poly 72, UC Davis 64
Saturday
CSUN at Hawaii, 5 p.m.
Rainbow Wahine alumnae game, 2 p.m.
UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine at Cal Poly
Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State