Overpowered but undaunted.

In danger of absorbing its third straight blowout loss, Hawaii put up a fight before falling 65-53 to No. 17 Arizona State before a crowd of 808 in the opening game of the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.

Danielle Orsillo and Kali Bennett each scored 15 points to lead the Sun Devils, who improved to 3-1 for the season.

In their regular-season home opener following a three-game road swing in California to open the season last week, the Rainbow Wahine, who fell to 1-3, struggled against the aggressive Sun Devils, who held Hawaii to a cold 26 percent from the field.

Keisha Kanekoa led Hawaii with 15 points, and Shawna Kuehu added 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Rainbow Wahine struck first when Kuehu hit a runner in the lane 41 seconds into the game, but the Sun Devils patiently worked for shots despite a hustling Hawaii defense that switched up from a zone to man-to-man at times.

Arizona State was led by the steady hand of senior guard Orsillo, who scored nine of her points before the break. The Sun Devils forced 14 first-half turnovers, which continue to be a bugaboo for Hawaii.

“;We give a lot of credit to them,”; Kanekoa said. “;They did put on a lot of pressure and force a lot of turnovers. We just gotta take care of the ball better.”;

Arizona State took its biggest lead of the half at 29-17 with 3:23 left after Alex Earl converted a steal into a layup and Kayli Murphy hit a short jumper. ASU led 32-22 at the break.

The Sun Devils threatened to blow the game wide open early in the second half with an 8-0 run to make it 40-22 before Kuehu finally hit a turnaround jumper with almost 3:30 gone in the second half.

ASU dominated the Wahine on the boards, outrebounding Hawaii 46-33, including 24 on the offensive end. After Gabby Fage failed to convert the second of two free throws, Bennett grabbed the board and hit a follow shot to give the Sun Devils their biggest lead of the game, 49-28, with 12:02 remaining.

“;When you face a good team like Arizona State, they're not just fundamentally sound, they're hungry,”; said Hawaii coach Dana Takahara-Dias. “;Offensive boards, they really did a number on us.”;

“;They're beasts underneath,”; said Kanekoa. “;We gotta work on our blocking out, pushing bodies out, hold our position.”;

But after suffering 46- and 30-point pastings to UCLA and Cal State Bakersfield last week, the Rainbow Wahine fought back.

They went on an 8-2 run after Leilani Galdones hit a layup. Kanekoa added a driving layup and converted three of four free throws, which cut the Sun Devils' lead to 52-37.

“;I thought we let up (in the second half),”; said Arizona State coach Charli Turner-Thorne. “;We don't put people away. This has been a consistent pattern for us. We get up big, then we'll have some major letups.”;

When Wahine forward Breanna Arbuckle converted a pretty pass from Kuehu, Hawaii cut the deficit to 56-45, but Bennett hit back-to-back baskets down low to push the lead back to 16.

The tournament continues this afternoon with Arizona State taking on East Tennessee State. Hawaii plays East Tennessee State tomorrow in the tournament finale.