Women's Basketball 1/3/2015 12:40:00 AM UNCGSpartans.com

Women's Basketball Drops Final Non-Conference Game at Hawai'i

Box Score HONOLULU, Hawaii. – The UNCG women's basketball team fell behind and couldn't recover falling to Hawai'i, 74-54, in its final non-conference game of the season Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Spartans finish the non-conference slate with a 5-10 record having lost three straight while the Rainbow Wahine improve to 8-5 with the victory.

Three players scored in double-figures with junior guard Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) scoring 17 second half points on 6-of-17 shooting in the contest. Senior guard Jessica Collins (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield/Eckerd College) added 12 points off 5-of-16 from the field with five rebounds. Classmate Jarae Savage (Marietta, Ga./North Cobb) finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

The Blue and Gold had a much better second half scoring 37 points and shot 31 percent on 13-of-42 shooting. UNCG only had seven turnovers in the second frame and forced 23 miscues for the Rainbow Wahine. The Spartans also had 13 steals in the loss but the first half deficit was too much to overcome.

Hawai'i won the rebounding battle grabbing 51 boards (20 offensive) while UNCG was held to 40 rebounds (20 offensive). The Rainbow Wahine took 29 free throws making 20 in the victory and held a 40-to-22 advantage in points in the paint.

In the second half, Hawai'i led by 23 points after a jumper from Sarah Toeaina to make the score 45-22 with 16:53 remaining. Mason would score 10 of the next 12 points but the Rainbow Wahine still led 53-31 at the 13:03 mark.

Hawai'i would lead by 29 points before UNCG cut the advantage to 20 after a made free throw by sophomore India Timpton (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) to make it 65-45 with under five minutes left. Each team would finish with nine points as a jumper by sophomore Mariah Wilson (Atlanta, Ga./North Atlanta) would make the final tally 74-54.

Hawai'i took a 20-point advantage into halftime over UNCG as Savage led the team with seven points (3-of-7) off the bench. The Spartans shot 20 percent on 6-of-29 from the field and was 1-for-9 from the three-point line to fall behind.

The Rainbow Wahine took an early 11-4 lead off a layup from Morgan Mason with 15:02 remaining in the half. UNCG would answer with a 5-2 run capped by a fast break steal and layup from Savage to make the score 13-9 at the 12:31 mark.

Over the next seven minutes, Hawai'i went on a 10-3 run to increase its lead to 23-12 as Shawna-Lei Kuehu had six points in the run. Collins hit a three-point to cut the lead to 23-15 with under five minutes left in the period.

Hawai'i ended the half on a 14-2 burst to push its lead to 20 points and gave UNCG its lowest point total in a half this season.

The Blue and Gold return home for a two-game homestand starting Southern Conference action with Samford Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. at Fleming Gymnasium.

Follow the UNCG women's basketball team all season long by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans official Twitter feeds @uncgsports/@uncgwbb

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