Janevia Taylor scored a game-high 18 points and Jade Abele 14 as the Rainbow Wahine rallied past the Wolf Pack, 63-54, in a Western Athletic Conference game.

A crowd of 555 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i fall behind by as many as 11 points in the first half before mounting a charge in the final 20 minutes.

Hawai'i snapped its two-game losing streak and improved to 8-18 overall and 6-11 in the WAC. Nevada lost its eighth consecutive game and fell to 3-24 and 2-15, and remained 0-8 in games played in Hawai'i.

"I think this is one of our biggest wins this season because we came back," said Taylor, who scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half.

For the first time this season, Hawai'i showed it could win a game when it trailed at halftime. Prior to last night's game, Hawai'i was 0-15 this season when it trailed or was tied with its opponent at halftime. Last night, Nevada led 30-26 at halftime.

"It doesn't matter what the score is at halftime, it's what the score is at the end," Hawai'i coach Vince Goo said. "This is one of our better second halves that we played. We're at a point now where the team is coming around and playing very well."

Hawai'i rallied behind Abele and Taylor in the second half. The two players combined to score all the points in a 15-6 UH run to open the second half, which turned the halftime deficit into a 41-36 lead. During the surge, Abele scored eight points and Taylor scored seven. Abele scored nine of her 14 points in the second half.

Taylor's third basket of the second half allowed Hawai'i to take the lead for good at 38-36 with 14:07 remaining.

Hawai'i stretched its lead to 61-49 on a pair of free throws by April Atuaia.

Hawai'i's defense hounded Nevada's perimeter shooters in the second half, limiting them to 2 of 4 on 3-point attempts in the final 20 minutes.

For the game, Nevada shot 37 percent (22 of 59) from the field, including 6 of 18 from 3-point territory. In comparison, Hawai'i shot 43 percent (21 of 39) from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point territory.

"We got out and we played a lot better defensively in the second half," Goo said. "We were able to get rebounds and get our transition game going."

Nevada's Jocelyn Mancebo scored 17 points, April Bankston 14, Talisha Quick-Rath 12. Hawai'i's Pam Tambini added 13 points.

The Wolf Pack dominated most of the first half with relentless man-to-man defense and offensive hustle, a plan that worked in Nevada's 77-62 victory against visiting Hawai'i on Jan. 5. Last night, Hawai'i fell behind 30-19 with 2:36 left in the first half.

Hawai'i engineered a 7-0 run to close to 30-26 at halftime. During the surge, Tambini scored five points and recorded an assist on Atuaia's layup.

"We fell behind by 11 and I thought we did a good job in the last seven minutes of the first half buckling down defensively, and handling the ball better on offense," Goo said.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.