Janevia Taylor walked to the locker room with a big frown yesterday after Hawai'i's semifinal meltdown in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic.

The normally upbeat Rainbow Wahine guard was unhappy following Hawai'i's mistake-filled 70-56 loss to Arkansas before 539 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It's just frustrating right now," said Taylor, whose team led by five at intermission. "To go out there in the second half, and look like that, it kind of threw me off."

Arkansas freshman guard Donica Cosby scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, and the Lady'Backs outscored Hawai'i, 39-20, after intermission.

The Rainbow Wahine had been seeking their first appearance in the title game since 1999, but they hurt themselves with 14 second-half turnovers that led to 19 Arkansas points.

In the other semifinal, All-America guard Ivory Latta scored 20 points to lead six teammates in double figures as No. 2 North Carolina routed Gonzaga, 101-63.

North Carolina (5-0) will play Arkansas (7-0) for the title today at 5:30 p.m., while Hawai'i (2-2) will face Gonzaga (5-2) for third place at 3:20 p.m.

"If we were a fighter, we didn't answer today," Hawai'i coach Jim Bolla said. "Arkansas came out slugging, and we just took it. By the time we realized what we needed to do, we were so far out of sync."

Taylor and center Brittany Grice scored 15 points each for Hawai'i. Teammate Tanya Smith, a forward, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

It wasn't pretty for Hawai'i last night. Its players tossed wayward passes to the grandstands, botched an inbounds play, and on one turnover, Arkansas forward Tanisha Smith scored on a layup after ripping the ball from a Hawai'i player, purse-snatcher style.

Arkansas' pressure defense caused Hawai'i to shoot just 29 percent (6 of 21) in the second half. Hawai'i shot 39 percent (19 of 49) for the game.

"Coach (Susie Gardner) really stresses defense," Cosby said. "In the second half, we played good defense, got in the passing lanes, got the defensive rebounds and tried to score."

Trailing 36-31 at intermission, Arkansas rallied behind Cosby, who scored 14 points during a 20-4 run to start the second half.

Cosby scored 10 consecutive points during the surge, including back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing as Arkansas — aided by four Hawai'i turnovers — took a 51-40 lead with 14:02 left.

Cosby shot 9 of 17 for the game, including 3 of 9 from beyond the arc. She also had six rebounds and five assists.

"I was very confident," Cosby said. "I was just trying to help my team and contribute. We were struggling a little bit, so someone had to step up."

Hawai'i cut the deficit to 51-43 on Taylor's foul shot with 12 minutes remaining, but that's as close as it would get.

"No defense," Taylor said. "They drove on us. We didn't move our feet, and we didn't give an effort to play defense. We came out flat-footed."

With five minutes left, Arkansas guard Brittney Vaughn made a highlight play when she charged toward the sideline and saved a ball by jumping on the scorers' table. The ball eventually went to Cosby, who drained a short baseline jumper for a 63-49 Arkansas lead.

Arkansas eventually stretched its lead to 17 with two minutes remaining.

The Lady Razorbacks shot 38 percent (27 of 72) and committed only five turnovers compared to Hawai'i's 24.

Hawai'i led by as many as eight points twice in the first half, the last at 30-22 on Taylor's 3-pointer with 3:29 remaining. Taylor scored 12 first-half points on 5-of-9 shooting.

But the Lady Razorbacks clawed back, and got a coast-to-coast layup by Vaughn at the halftime buzzer to slice their deficit to five.

Hawai'i will get a chance to redeem itself today when it plays Gonzaga. The Zags upset No. 21 UCLA, 62-57, in the first round and feature 2003 Punahou School alum Rachel Kane.

Her Gonzaga teammate, Tatriana Lorenzo, played just three minutes in that game before injuring her left knee. She wore a heavy brace and was on crutches yesterday and will miss today's game, according to a school spokeswoman.

Kane and Lorenzo, a 2006 Kamehameha Schools alum, are former Advertiser All-State point guards. Kane was the State Player of the Year as a senior.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.