HONOLULU — It was a cold night in Hawai’i for the UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team.
The Gauchos, ranked seventh nationally in three-point shooting, made just 8-of-28 long shots while losing to the Rainbow Wahine, 67-50, on Saturday.
“Tonight we lacked the toughness and togetherness that defines us at our best,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said. “We’ll own it, learn from it, and respond the right way.”
The loss drops UCSB to 13-3 overall and 5-2 in Big West Conference play to keep it in a third-place tie with UC Davis. UC Irvine and UC San Diego remain atop the league standings with 7-0 records.
Hawai’i (8-9, 2-5 Big West), which was the coaches’ preseason pick to win the league race, lost its first five conference games before pummeling Cal Poly on Thursday, 86-46.
“I think we’re getting there,” Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman said. “We still have a lot of season ahead of us, and a lot of really good teams.
“We have yet been able to do what we need to do on the road., so I want to see the competition, intensity and focus follow us on this road trip.
“But I’m really proud of getting more into a game plan and executing it for 40 minutes.”
Hawai’i blocked eight shots while holding UCSB to 34.5% shooting.
The Rainbow Wahine led 26-11 after the first 14 minutes.
By that time, the Gauchos had made just 5-of-21 shots — three by freshman Chauncey Andersen — while missing all eight of their three-point attempts.
UCSB came into the game shooting 38% from three.
Zoe Shaw fueled a 7-0 Gaucho run in the next 83 seconds, however, by hitting a three and then taking a steal in for a layup. She finished with 11 points.
Maddie Naro, returning from a shoulder injury that had sidelined her for the previous three games, made another three to reduce the deficit to eight points, 29-21.
But Saniyah Neverson sank a pair of triples while scoring eight points in the final two minutes of the first half to send Hawai’i into the locker room with a 37-23 lead.
Neverson finished with 15 points while Keiara Curtis scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the second half.
Hawai’i shot 49.1% overall and 42.1% from three-point distance (8-for-19) against a Gaucho team that came into the game as the nation’s leader in three-point percentage defense (22.1%).
Olivia Bradley kept UCSB in the game by scoring 11 of her team-high 15 points in the third quarter.
A three by Zoe Borter and a runner by Andersen lowered the Rainbow Wahine’s lead to 61-47 with 7:03 to go.
But the Gauchos’ only points the rest of the game came on a three by Bojana Radnjic with just 1:21 remaining.
UCSB will look to bounce back on Thursday with a 7 p.m. game at Cal Poly.