Second place proved tenuous for the Hawaii women’s basketball team.

In their first game since losing top scorer and rebounder Makenna Woodfolk for the season, the Rainbow Wahine suffered a 53-48 loss to UC Irvine tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. It knocked UH (11-14, 7-5 Big West) from a tie for second down to fifth with four regular-season games remaining.

Irvine guard Lauren Saiki (14 points) hit a fadeaway shot in the paint with 26.5 seconds left for a three-point lead.

UH’s Courtney Middap missed a step-back 3 and the ball went out of bounds with 14 seconds left. After a review, it was awarded back to Hawaii. But the Wahine couldn’t find anyone cleanly on the inbounds pass and Jordan Sanders (20 points, eight rebounds) stole it and was fouled.

After committing another foul, UH stole UCI’s inbounds pass and Jadynn Alexander (team-high 10 points) got the ball to Tia Kanoa. Kanoa stepped back out behind the 3-point line, but her shot was partially blocked by Andee Ritter.

After the loss to the Anteaters (17-6, 7-4) the Wahine must now face first-place UC Davis on the road on a quick turnaround Saturday.