Whatever Dana Takahara-Dias said at halftime about giving up leads wasn't lost on her players.

Hawaii gave up an early 13-point advantage to Utah State by halftime, but the lead the Rainbow Wahine garnered in the final 9 minutes stuck as UH rolled to a 69-56 win last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“;I politely said some really encouraging things to make them understand that it's all about pride and protecting the house that we work so hard in,”; the first-year coach said with a wry smile. “;But more importantly, to take care of the little things. It was a very pleasant halftime speech.”;

A crowd of 913 saw 5-foot-6 guard Leilani Galdones respond with her first career double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) to lead four Wahine in double figures. Three forwards had big nights, as Dita Liepkalne had 12 points and eight rebounds, Breanna Arbuckle added 11 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and four steals, and Allie Patterson chipped in 11 points off the bench.

It added up to a rise in the Western Athletic Conference standings as the Wahine matched their overall win total of Jim Bolla's tumultuous final year as head coach. UH (8-10, 2-3) moved into a fifth-place tie with USU (10-8, 2-3), which lost its third straight league game after opening WAC play 2-0.

The Wahine led 14-6 and 25-12 after a fast start, but USU rallied with a 19-6 run to close the half and tie the game at 31.

“;(The speech) was pretty much when we get a lead we need to keep it and build on it,”; Galdones said. “;We always seem comfortable with our lead and they come back and made a run on us.”;

The teams battled evenly until 44-all, when UH went on a 15-7 run to seize control by the 2-minute mark. The Aggies' Alice Coddington (team-high 13 points) swooped in for a basket to cut the Wahine lead to 59-53, but UH came back with a 10-3 run to seal it. The dagger was a steal and coast-to-coast drive by Arbuckle for a three-point play with just under a minute left.

“;We started a little dazed, I would say,”; Liepkalne said. “;The halftime speech I would say was intense enough. We have to play a more intense and more attacking game for us to win.”;

Both teams were turnover prone—including a wild stretch in which they traded the ball four times around midcourt in a 15-second span. USU had 21 giveaways and UH 20. But it was the Wahine who made the late plays to close it out, as they did to open their three-game homestand in a win over Idaho.

“;We turned the ball over way too much, and I felt in a lot of situations unnecessary turnovers,”; Aggies coach Raegan Pebley said. “;Careless passes that we were wanting to do too much at the wrong time.

“;I think Dana's doing an awesome job getting this team playing hard and believing in themselves and they're getting better and better,”; Pebley added. “;They're going to continue to pick up wins throughout the season.”;

There was little time to savor this one, though, as UH left late last night for a two-game road trip starting at Louisiana Tech on Thursday. The lengthy road trip involves stops at Las Vegas, Dallas and Shreveport, La., before a drive to Ruston. UH must quickly recover for a date with Boise State on Saturday in Idaho.

USU freshman guard Pualei Furtado, a Kamehameha graduate, hit a pull-up 3-pointer with 48 seconds left for her team's final points.

WAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS

YESTERDAY

Hawaii 69, Utah State 56

TOMORROW

New Mexico State at Idaho

San Jose State at Boise State

THURSDAY

Hawaii at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m.

Fresno State at Nevada

Hawaii 69, Utah State 56

Aggies (10-8, 2-3 WAC)

Rainbow Wahine (8-10, 2-3 WAC)

Key— fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

Halftime— Hawaii 31, Utah State 31

3-point goals— Utah St. 5-21(Goddard 2-4, Howard 1-1, Furtado 1-1, Pringle-Buchanan 1-5, Christensen 0-1, White 0-2, Johnson 0-3, Coddington 0-4), Hawaii 5-12 (Galdones 3-5, Kanekoa 1-2, Bungaite 1-4, Liepkalne 0-1).

Steals— Utah St. 8 (Pringle-Buchanan 3, Coddington 2, White 2, Whitehead), Hawaii 9 (Arbuckle 4, Patterson 2, Leipkalne, Galdones, Kanekoa). Blocked shots— Utah St. 5 (Whitehead 3, Johnson, White), Hawaii 4 (Arbuckle 2, Liepkalne, Patterson).

Officials— Kyle Bacon, Carla Fujimoto, Darla Foutz. A— 913.