Her team's 14-point lead nearly evaporated in the second half, yet Pam Tambini wasn't worried.

Tambini grabbed a key rebound and sank 2 of 4 foul shots in the final minute as Hawai'i fended off previously undefeated Texas Tech, 57-54, last night in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic before 634 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"We practice end-of-game situations," said Tambini, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. "Our coach (Jim Bolla) prepares us for everything. When the game came, it was just like practice."

Hawai'i advanced to play Arkansas, an 84-58 winner over Denver, in today's semifinal at 1:20 p.m. In other games, No. 2 North Carolina routed Sacramento State, 99-38, and Gonzaga upset No. 21 UCLA, 62-57.

Hawai'i's Janevia Taylor scored a game-high 17 points. Fellow guard Saundra Cariaga, who started her first collegiate game, added a career-high 12 points.

"Everyone is a little nervous before the game," Cariaga said. "But once the game started, it was just like practice."

Hawai'i (2-1) led by as many as 14 twice in the second half, but the Lady Raiders (3-1) rallied to within one point three times, the last at 53-52, on Jordan Murphree's 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining.

Texas Tech had a good chance to take the lead, but Chesley Dabbs' jumper in the lane missed and Tambini grabbed the rebound, and Taylor was fouled with 28 seconds left.

Taylor hit both foul shots, and Tambini added her late foul shots for a 57-54 lead with 9 seconds left.

The Lady Raiders had a chance to tie, but Alesha Robertson's 3-point attempt from the top of the key under heavy pressure hit the rim.

"When they cut the score down to 1, we didn't panic," Taylor said. "I just wanted to get calm, get my teammates calm, run our press break and execute our offense."

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.