Louisiana native Cassidy Chretien sank two free throws with 6.4 seconds to play as the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team defeated Louisiana Tech, 60-59, yesterday in a Western Athletic Conference game at Ruston, La.

On Louisiana Tech's ensuing possession, Chretien knocked the ball free from Lady Techster guard Shan Moore and Hawai'i's Pam Tambini grabbed the loose ball as time expired.

A crowd of 2,142 at the Thomas Assembly Center saw Hawai'i win for the first time in six games at Ruston as it improved to 11-12 overall and 5-6 in the WAC this season. Louisiana Tech, which beat UH earlier this season and leads the series 17-2, fell to 13-11 and 8-3.

It was the second straight win for the Rainbow Wahine under Pat Charity, who is guiding the program while head coach Jim Bolla recovers from a medical procedure.

Janevia Taylor was the lone Hawai'i player in double figures with 10 points. Tanya Smith added nine points and nine rebounds, and Brittany Grice and Iwona Zagrobelna each had nine points. Tambini contributed eight points and 10 rebounds, and Chretien finished with eight points.

Moore scored 20 points, including two free throws with 18.9 seconds remaining to give the Lady Techsters a 59-58 lead.

LaTech started the game by hitting 5 of 7 shots to take a 16-9 lead on a Ty Moore jumper with 14:06 to play in the first half. The Rainbow Wahine then used a 21-6 run over the next 12 minutes to move ahead 30-22.

Hawai'i led 34-28 at the half after hitting 50 percent (14 of 28) of its shots while holding the Lady Techsters to 34-percent shooting (11 of 32).

"It all boils down to being able to score," said LaTech head coach Chris Long, whose team finished shooting 32.4 percent (22 of 68). "You hold a team to 60 points and you feel like you should win, especially at home. Hawai'i is the biggest team in this league and they force you to take tough shots a lot of times. They make you shoot over them and we just didn't hit enough of them."

The Rainbow Wahine continued their dominance early in the first half, taking a 39-30 lead on a jumper by Chretien with 15:45 to play before LaTech began to whittle its deficit.

Moore's three-point play tied the score 55-55 with 1:04 to play. The score was 57-57 when Smith drew a shooting foul with 42.5 seconds left. She hit the first free throw, but missed the second.

Moore then missed a shot, but was fouled by Taylor with 18.9 seconds left. Her two free throws gave LaTech the lead before Chretien won it with her pair.