Freshman reserve guard Keisha Kanekoa scored a career-high 24 points, dished four assists and hit four free throws down the stretch as the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team downed Louisiana Tech, 84-77, last night before a turnstile crowd of 294 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Saundra Cariaga and Amy Kotani both added 13 points for the Rainbows. Tanya Smith was her usual productive self, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a game-high five assists.

Shanavia Dowdell led the Bulldogs with 19 points and five rebounds. JoKierra Sneed, the team's leading scorer on the season, had 12 points and nine rebounds in 16 minutes before being ejected for taking a swing at Rainbow forward Ebony Jones.

The Rainbows improved to 12-16 overall, 6-9 in the Western Athletic Conference.

The win was something of a breakthrough for UH, which has lost several games this season when impressive early leads crumbled in a flurry of second-half turnovers and other miscues. The Rainbows faced a similar scenario last night as the Bulldogs rallied behind a ball-hawking full-court press and aggressive play in the paint, but while they gave up points and opportunities, the Rainbows did not surrender the lead.

"We didn't back down," Smith said. "It was very important for us to have a win like this and it was great. I thought we have great possession of the ball. Even though we turned the ball over in the second half, I felt we made good decisions and ran the offense the best we could."

Spurred by a jumper and a 3-pointer by Kotani, the Rainbows jumped to an 8-0 lead to start the game and never gave up the lead.

Louisiana Tech rallied, primarily behind the opportunistic post play of Sneed, who repeatedly snaked and bulled her way through defenders for layups. Sneed scored 10 of her team's first 17 points and seemed primed for a double-double in the first half.

The Rainbows couldn't stop Sneed, they could only hope to inflame her.

With 2:54 left in the half and UH ahead 28-24, Sneed swung at Jones after the two went after a loose ball. Officials didn't act on the altercation until UH coach Jim Bolla asked them to review the play. After a brief consultation, they ejected Sneed.

"I guess she got agitated," Jones said. Jones said she and Sneed did not make contact during the scramble for the ball.

Kanekoa's 3-pointer with a second left gave UH a 35-31 lead at the half.

Kanekoa hit another 3 five minutes into the second half to cap a 15-5 run that gave UH its biggest lead of the game, 55-41.

With Sneed out of the lineup, the Bulldogs turned to the inside play of Dowdell and the outside shooting of Sidney Stewart, who hit two big 3-pointers in the second half.

But it was the Bulldogs' defense that did the most damage, harassing the Rainbows into 15 second-half turnovers. Still, UH's overall poise and execution, even as Louisiana Tech repeatedly cut the lead to four points or less, made the difference.

"Their press gave us some problems when we tried to freelance, but when we executed our press breaks, we got layups," Bolla said.

The Bulldogs closed to three points with less than three minutes to play, but Kanekoa stayed aggressive and helped seal the game by nailing a 3-pointer and connecting on all four of her free throws down the stretch.

"We just executed the plays and took what they gave us," Kanekoa said. "In the second half, we said, 'Let's not have the same thing happen where we lose this one like all the other games.' "

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.