The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team brought very little to the floor last night against Iona.

And it led to a dismal 91-69 loss in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational championship game before 307 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Things got out of hand early for the Rainbow Wahine when they allowed numerous open shots, were beaten to loose balls and didn't get back in transition, among other things.

The Gaels led 40-17 after a layup by Thazina Cook with 6:10 left in the half.

At that point, Iona was 15 of 26 from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range.

"We shot the ball well and I'm proud of the girls for that," said Iona coach Anthony Bozzella.

Meanwhile, Hawai'i was 6 of 24, including six shots that were either airballs or hit only the backboard.

"You make things go your way. We didn't make things go our way," said Hawai'i coach Jim Bolla. "We backed away from them. We let them dominate us all over the floor."

It was the most points allowed by Hawai'i this season and its largest margin of defeat.

"It comes down to them hustling more than we did," said Hawai'i's Tanya Smith. "It's not that they're a better team than us, I don't think. We just didn't play to our potential."

Hawai'i (6-7) closed to 54-44 after a three-point play by Iwona Zagrobelna with 13:09 left, but the Gaels quickly pulled away.

"We do a great job getting it down to 10 and we just don't answer the bell," Bolla said. "We get great stops, we come down and we just panic. We had people out there that quit playing tonight and that's just not acceptable."

He quickly pointed out the exertion of energy used by the Rainbow Wahine to get back in the game had nothing to do with them fading down the stretch.

"It was nothing about exerting energy. It was a lack of heart," Bolla said. "Let's be realistic about it. It was a lack of heart. They came out and basically punched us right in the face and we just fell down on the floor and didn't answer the bell."

Anna McLean led Iona (7-6) with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Anda Ivkovic added 17 points, Lauren Defalco had 13 and Cook 11.

It was one of those games where the Gaels had a really good time at the expense of the Rainbow Wahine.

"They were laughing at us. They came down on breaks and they were laughing at us," Bolla said. "They were making 3s and they're laughing at us. We got no one to respond to that."

Saundra Cariaga scored 16 points, Zagrobelna added 15 and Smith had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Hawai'i, which was 25 of 67 from the field and 1 of 6 from the 3-point range.

The Rainbow Wahine also committed 22 turnovers, and Iona had 24 points off turnovers. The Gaels had 15 steals.

"We had passes thrown into the stands," Bolla said. "We weren't even close to executing what we wanted to execute."

Hawai'i will play four consecutive Western Athletic Conference road games before returning to the Stan Sheriff Center on Jan. 24 to play Boise State.

WILLIAM & MARY 71, UC IRVINE 56

Tiffany Benson scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Tribe beat the Anteaters in the consolation game.

William and Mary (6-6) put the game away with a 24-8 run over an 11:30 span of the second half to take a 65-49 lead with 3:36 remaining.

Stephanie Duda had 18 points and 11 rebounds for UC Irvine (4-9), which lost its fifth straight.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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