Hawaii eliminated a 15-point, second-half deficit, but the Rainbow Wahine basketball team was unable to get over the hump in its 76-66 loss to UNLV on Sunday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

UH (1-7) tied the game at 59-all with over seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half. But UNLV (9-1) responded with an 8-0 run over the next four minutes that put the Lady Rebels back ahead for good.

“Whether it’s a missed block out, a questionable no-call, a missed chip shot — all of those things affect the momentum and the energy of a game,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “I thought that happened throughout the course of the game, particularly in that last nine minutes of the game. There was just something that went a different way.”

UNLV scored 46 points in the paint, led by forward Desi-Rae Young’s 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting. Young also recorded a team-high 10 rebounds, and UNLV guard Essence Booker added 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

“You can’t give up that kind of productivity inside the paint,” Beeman said. “I thought that first half, our post play was very bad. Second half, I thought it got a little bit better, but (Young) was on a roll and felt very comfortable.”

Olivia Davies scored a team-high 14 points off the bench for UH in her first game back from injury since Nov. 7, and Lily Wahinekapu added 12 points. Post players Kallin Spiller and Jacque David added nine points each for the Rainbow Wahine.

“It’s been hard to be on the bench and watch things, but I think it gave me a good perspective of seeing the game from a different angle,” Davies said about returning to the court. “It was super exciting to be out there today.”

Wahinekapu’s layup and free throw were the only points for Hawaii in the second quarter at the midway point, which put the Rainbow Wahine down by 11. Spiller’s 3 on the wing and a layup by Jovi Lefotu on a fast break trimmed UNLV’s lead to six points, but the Lady Rebels were able push their lead back to 11 at halftime behind their 22 points in the paint.

A layup by UNLV’s Justice Ethridge with 8:02 left in the third quarter gave the Lady Rebels their largest lead of the game at 15. But UH outscored UNLV 20-16 in the third quarter, with David scoring six of the Wahine’s final eight points of the period.

UH tied the game at 59 after guard Daejah Phillips converted a layup and free throw for a 3-point play off a steal, and forward Imani Perez made a layup off a pick-and-roll assist from Phillips. The Rainbow Wahine finished with eight steals and scored 19 points off 15 Lady Rebel turnovers.

“I thought we got better tonight. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but I thought both sides of the ball — particularly in the second half — our execution improved greatly,” Beeman said. “Overall, I feel very good about where we are and the execution.”