Loyola Marymount pulls away late to defeat Rainbow Wahine basketball team

The Hawaii women’s basketball team kept up with Loyola Marymount for three quarters on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, but the Rainbow Wahine couldn’t keep pace for one more in a 65-51 loss.

With things knotted up at 27 at halftime, LMU outscored the Wahine 20-9 in the fourth quarter to pull away. After winning its season opener against San Diego State last Tuesday, UH dropped to 1-1. The Lions (1-1) picked up their first win after losing their season opener to UCLA on Nov. 9.

Hawaii was doomed by poor shooting and turnovers — not the ideal formula for winning on the road.

The ‘Bows connected on just 31.5 percent of their shots, making 17 of their 54 field goal attempts. They also turned the ball over 18 times compared to their nine assists. LMU didn’t do much better, shooting 24-for-63 from the field for a 38.1 percent clip, but the Lions turned the ball over just eight times.

Hawaii scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but the Lions broke away with a 15-4 run as the Wahine hit just two field goals in the final stanza

Courtney Middap had a team-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and was the lone ‘Bow to reach double figures. In her UH debut, freshman forward Kasey Neubert finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

Amy Atwell (17) and Lauren Rewers (16) combined for 33 points in the season-opening win over the Aztecs, but on Wednesday, Rewers scored two points while Atwell was held scoreless. Atwell was in foul trouble, committing four of them in just six minutes of action.

Ciera Ellington had a game-high 13 points for LMU, while Jasmine Jones had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.

The Rainbow Wahine will stay in southern California as they close out their road trip with a 5 p.m. game at Pepperdine on Friday.