Jim Bolla looked at the bright side after his University of Hawai'i women's basketball team absorbed a 64-53 loss to visiting Louisiana Tech last night.

"It's not the end of the world," Bolla said.

Moments earlier, Bolla watched Hawai'i blow an 11-point first-half lead and trail by as many as 21 after intermission before its reserves made the score respectable against five-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Louisiana Tech.

Ty Moore had a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Lady Techsters (7-8, 2-0) outscored the Rainbow Wahine, 40-26, in the second half before a crowd of 428 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawai'i — still seeking its first conference victory this season — dropped its third straight game. This is the first time Hawai'i (6-8, 0-2) has started the WAC season with back-to-back losses.

In fact, Hawai'i has never lost its first two conference home games in school history counting the start of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association in 1984, the Big West in 1988 and the ensuing WAC in 1996.

"I think we'll be OK," said Hawai'i junior forward Tanya Smith, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, and reminded everyone that last season Hawai'i started the WAC 1-4 and rallied to finish third in the conference at 9-7, the highest finish since the 2001-02 season. "We just have to push through it."

Louisiana Tech's Shan Moore, JoKeirra Sneed and Sierra Nixon added 11 points apiece. Hawai'i's Pam Tambini contributed nine points and five rebounds.

This is the fifth time this season Hawai'i has held a halftime lead only to lose by double digits.

"We can't put a team away," Bolla said. "We're in position in the first half ... but then we have a little lapse."

Hawai'i had a three-point advantage at the break and extended its lead to 31-26 on Janevia Taylor's basket early in the second half. But the Lady Techsters responded with a 15-1 run to take a 41-32 lead with 13:01 remaining. Ty Moore scored six during the spurt, including a jumper in the lane that tied the score at 32 and the go-ahead layup.

"I felt late in the first half we picked up our defensive intensity and carried that over into the second half," Louisiana Tech coach Chris Long said. "We played with a lot of energy. This is a tough place to play and our kids really responded. We got it done on the defensive end. I think that's what won the game."

In the second half, the Lady Techsters shot 52 percent (13 of 25), while the Rainbow Wahine were held to 30 percent (10 of 33).

A basket by Hawai'i's Saundra Cariaga got Hawai'i to 41-34, but Louisiana Tech busted the game open with a 16-2 run to lead 57-36 with 7:22 remaining.

UH's reserves spurred a late rally and cut the gap to single digits, but they couldn't make up the deficit. Megan Tinnin's 3-pointer capped an 11-0 run to get Hawai'i within 57-47, and Dita Liepkalne's 3-pointer pulled Hawai'i to 61-53 with 43.8 ticks left.

"In the second half, we didn't get those high percentage shots," Tambini said. "We weren't pounding it into the post as much as we were in the first half."

NOTES

Hawai'i got a scare when senior guard Janevia Taylor crashed to the court when she grabbed a rebound in the first half. She returned minutes later, but spent the final minutes of the game with an ice pack on her ankle.

Hawai'i senior guard Cassidy Chretien got her first career start. She finished with two points and four assists.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.