The Hawaii women’s basketball team came up short in its Big West opener, falling 72-68 at Cal State Fullerton today.

Behind backup forward Amy Atwell, UH (4-10, 0-1 Big West) rallied to take the lead from down double digits in the third quarter, but it was short lived, and the Rainbow Wahine dropped to 1-6 in Big West openers since rejoining the Big West in 2012.

Atwell scored a career-high 25 points off the bench on 9-for-11 shooting, including a 3 at the buzzer to complete the scoring. Center Lauren Rewers added 10 points in the loss.

Atwell scored inside to give the Wahine their first lead, 52-50, in the third quarter. Leah Salanoa’s three free throws kept the run going to 55-50.

Fullerton tied it up at 55, but Atwell was still feeling it. Her corner 3 recaptured the lead, but the Titans answered with a triple.

Rewers’ shot inside gave UH the lead for the last time at 60-59, until Jade Vega hit a 3 with under four minutes left, launching a 7-0 Titans run.

Atwell was fouled on a 3 and made all three with 15 seconds left, bringing UH within 68-65. UH took fouls and Fullerton made its free throws to seal it.

Guard Raina Perez scored 23 points to lead the Titans (9-5, 1-0), while Vega added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists.