Wolf Pack rattle Rainbow Wahine

Hawaii could not overcome a season-high 32 turnovers against opportunistic Nevada, which extended its winning streak to four last night.

The Wolf Pack evened the season series with a 66-61 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball victory in front of 578 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii (11-7, 2-5) shot better than Nevada from the field (.438 to .379), from 3-point range (.444 to .222) and from the foul line (.750 to .714), but gave the Wolf Pack 26 points off the turnovers.

Nevada (7-12, 3-4) was led by Brandi Fitzgerald's 17 points, and Amy Sanders topped UH with a game-high 19 points.

"It wasn't like some of the turnovers were even forced. We just threw the ball out of bounds about eight times," Rainbow Wahine coach Jim Bolla said. "We had a height advantage and we couldn't get our post people in the right position. They stayed in the middle of the lane instead of down in the block. Nevada did a good job of forcing them out.

"Then we ran the play we wanted at the end to tie the score. We got the layup, but it didn't go in."

The score was 12-12 after the first 8 minutes as both teams found success with their inside games.

Over the next 5:26, Nevada took an 18-16 lead as Cherlanda Franklin hit a short jumper, made a free throw and Kate Saltmarsh sank a 3-pointer. The Wahine got a putback by Brittany Grice and a baseline jumper by Dalia Solia, but also turned the ball over five times during that span.

The Wahine, who had broken the Wolf Pack's full-court press early, started having difficulty getting the ball into the front court. They turned the ball over four more times to help the Wolf Pack put together a 13-2 run for a 32-18 lead with 3:10 to play before halftime.

Then the flow of the game suddenly switched, as Janevia Taylor and Sanders connected on 3-pointers to ignite an 11-0 spurt that pulled the Wahine to within three points (32-29) at the break.

Sanders accounted for the next five points in the run with a three-point play off a driving layup and two free throws with 29 seconds on the clock.

However, the Wahine, who had a season-low 14 turnovers vs. Idaho on Thursday, were saddled with 19 at the half.

"Teams like to pressure us. We tend to get frazzled. We have excellent ball-handlers, but we didn't pass the ball the way we should. That is how you break the press," said Grice. "We just were out of step all night."

The Wahine could not carry the momentum over to start the second half, turning the ball over four times and missing three shots in their first seven possessions as Nevada went up 37-29.

"They were switching on us and it was difficult for us to penetrate," Sanders said. "We talked about the turnovers at halftime, but it seemed we would think one thing and the other person wasn't on the same page."

Solia scored the first Wahine field goal of the second half on a layup with 16:32 remaining.

After a free throw by Fitzgerald and Salaia Salave'a's putback gave Nevada a 40-31 lead, the Wahine responded with a 10-2 run to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 42-41 with 12:07 left.

The teams traded baskets until Tanya Smith's rebound and putback edged UH ahead 51-50 at the 7:21 mark.

Saltmarsh's free throw seconds later tied the score and started a 9-2 Wolf Pack run that left them leading 60-53 with 2:59 to play.

A trey by Sanders, two free throws by Taylor and Grice's layup pulled UH to within a point (62-61).

But Nevada went 3-for-5 at the free-throw line and all UH could do was commit another turnover, the 32nd, and watch Sanders' layup attempt roll around and out with 7 seconds left when the Wahine still trailed by two points, 63-61.