HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo women's basketball took on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in an exhibition Wednesday night, and with nothing to lose, the Vulcans went all-in to the end falling just short to the Division-I Lady Rebels, 77-74.

The Vulcans were hot from the field, jumping out front early after shooting 18 of 28 (64.3 percent) in the first half to take a 41-29 lead into the break.

While Hawai'i Hilo continued to shoot well in the third period, UNLV started to catch up; turning around a 37.9-percent-first-half-shooting performance by going 61.5 percent (8 of 13) from the field in the third quarter to make it a single-digit game heading into the final 10 minutes.

With under six and a half minutes remaining, the Lady Rebels went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 68 on Ayssa Durazo-Frescas' lone 3-pointer (1 of 6) of the evening at the 3:53 mark. Mandi Kawaha quickly answered with a 3-pointer of her own for her 16th point of the game.

But UNLV pulled away with a 7-0 run to take the lead.

Kaile Cruz hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to make it a single-point game, but UNLV's Desi-Rae Young found an open lane for an easy basket off the inbound to seal the win.

"When you have a chance and you come up short, it's disappointing," Vulcans head coach David Kaneshiro said. "We're not happy that we lost, but at the same time, there were a lot of positive things that we did so we're going to try to build off those."

Because the game counted as an exhibition for Hawai'i Hilo only, the Vulcans' record remains unchanged with none of the stats counting.

By The Numbers

• Jenna Waki unofficially had a career-high of 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting and eight assists.
• Mandi Kawaha followed with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.
• Kamalu Kamakawiwoole also finished in double-digit scoring figures with 14 points and six rebounds.
• Kaile Cruz was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, tallying up 12 points.
• Young led the Lady Rebels with 24 points and nine rebounds.
• Alyssa Brown had a double-double with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 13 rebounds.

What's Next

Hawai'i Hilo remains at 4-3 overall, 1-1 PacWest while UNLV moved to an 8-1 record.

The Vulcans will return to action Saturday, Dec. 10 to host HPU (2-3 overall, 2-0 PacWest) for second-round Pacific West Conference action. The two teams just met up last week with the Sharks winning, 84-78, in overtime.

The Lady Rebels will hop to O'ahu to play the University of Hawai'i at Manoa this Sunday.