SAN DIEGO — For more than a month, the Hawaii women’s basketball team failed to perform well in its first game in a given week. And for the last year-plus, the Rainbow Wahine would curiously shrink against a transitional Division I program in UC San Diego.

UH rallied from down 14 at halftime to bust both of those trends on Thursday in a 61-58 win at UCSD’s LionTree Arena in La Jolla, Calif., earning its first victory over the Tritons in four meetings.

Center Kallin Spiller scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dealt four assists while point guard Lily Wahinekapu put in 12 points.

UH (10-12, 8-5 Big West) had lost the first game in a two-games-in-three-days Big West set for five straight weeks heading into this week, and for the first 20 minutes it appeared it would become six straight. UH coach Laura Beeman had also acknowledged in frustrating losses to UCSD that the smaller, speedier Tritons had her team's number until proven otherwise.

The Wahine trailed 35-21 at halftime but outscored UCSD 20-8 in the third quarter and 20-15 in the fourth.

Wahinekapu hit the go-ahead layup with 3:43 to play and the Wahine protected a narrow lead from there. Daejah Phillips scored on a fast-break assist from Ashley Thoms for the game’s final points with 1:32 remaining; UCSD missed five straight jumpers to close the game.

Guards Kelsie Imai and Thoms added nine points apiece for the Wahine. In 18 minutes off the bench, Thoms enjoyed her best overall production of the season, including six rebounds.

Sydney Brown led the Tritons (11-12, 8-5) with 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Wahine conclude their road trip against Cal State Fullerton, coached by Hawaii native Jeff Harada, at 4 p.m. Hawaii time on Saturday. UH won the first meeting of the season 66-53 on Jan. 7.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.