Rainbow Wahine basketball team rallies to road win over Cal State Fullerton
Hawaii forward Amy Atwell scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half and the Rainbow Wahine basketball team battled past Cal State Fullerton 55-46 today in Fullerton, Calif.
UH guard Olivia Davies tied her career high with 17 points and had five assists and UH (11-8, 7-2 Big West) picked up its fourth straight win despite a 28% shooting performance from the field and 59% from the free-throw line.
Forward Kallin Spiller had 12 rebounds and guard Daejah Phillips added eight boards. The Wahine held Cal State Fullerton (8-13, 3-8) to 32% shooting and converted 16 points off turnovers.
Cal State Fullerton freshman Lily Wahinekapu scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half and the ‘Iolani graduate matched Carolyn Gill for team-high honors.
Davies powered the Wahine to an early lead with six points in the game’s first five minutes, but the Wahine managed just three field goals over the next 15 minutes. Yet the Wahine went into halftime trailing by just a point despite 6-for-34 shooting (17.6%).
The UH defense came up with five blocks and four steals while holding Cal State Fullerton to 7-for-30 shooting in the first half, with Wahinekapu accounting for three field goals in a 10-point half.
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The Titans limited Atwell to four field-goal attempts in the half and she scored her first points of the game on two free throws at the 2:18 mark of the second quarter.
Atwell hit her first field goal of the game early in the third quarter and converted a three-point play with 1:36 left to cut Fullerton’s lead to 35-33. Davies tied it with two free throws with 2.5 seconds left in the quarter.
After Wahinekapu gave Fullerton the lead with a jumper early in the fourth quarter, UH freshman Jacque David drained a 3-pointer to give UH a 38-37 lead. Fullerton edged back in front at 41-40, but Atwell answered with a driving layup, then hit her lone 3-pointer of the game. Kelsie Imai added another 3-pointer from the left corner to stretch the UH lead to 48-41 with 4:41 left and the Wahine were able to protect the lead the rest of the way.
UH takes on conference leader Long Beach State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
