Tanya Smith hobbled from the locker room last night after receiving a cortisone injection in her right heel, but make no mistake, the University of Hawai'i junior forward was happy despite her pain.

Smith had 24 points and nine rebounds and Hawai'i celebrated its first Western Athletic Conference victory of the season, beating Idaho, 71-61, last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I don't think we had any doubt," said the 6-foot-3 Smith, who has played the whole season with a heel injury suffered in the team's first game against Georgetown in November. "Our plan was to go out and play hard. We did that."

A crowd of 223 that included Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier watched as Smith sank her first 10 shots. She finished 11 of 12 from the field, 2 of 3 from the free-throw line and helped Hawai'i (7-10, 1-4) snap its five-game losing streak, the longest skid under third-year coach Jim Bolla.

Smith, who is from Sydney, Australia, was cheered in the second half with chants of "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"

"I actually didn't hear it," Smith said of the cheers. "I just heard it one time and that was from a fellow student-athlete. Most of the time, I can't hear anyone. I'm too concentrated."

The feisty Vandals (3-13, 0-5), despite having no player taller than 6-foot freshman center Katie Madison, made a late charge but could not overcome Hawai'i's size advantage and dropped their ninth straight.

Hawai'i had five players 6-feet or taller and outscored the Vandals, 50-24, inside the key.

"Our plan was to pound the ball inside," Bolla said after Hawai'i improved to 5-0 against Idaho. "We wanted anybody down there, even our point guard down in the post."

Hawai'i — projected for a top-four finish in the nine-team league this season — entered last night's game tied with Idaho and San Jose State for last in the WAC.

But the 'Bows never trailed in the game and led by as many as 21 points midway through the second half. The Vandals cut the gap to six with less than five minutes to play, but Hawai'i made 5 of 7 free throws in the final four minutes to seal the win.

"A win is a win," forward Pam Tambini said. "We were up by a lot more, and we should have closed out the game earlier, so there's things to work on."

Tambini added 16 points and nine rebounds and teammate Saundra Cariaga had 10 points.

Idaho's Liz Witte and Sara Dennehy scored 15 points each, while WAC scoring leader Katie Madison added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Hannah Wells 10 points. Madison entered averaging 19.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Hawai'i finished with a season-high 24 assists on 30 field goals. Senior point guard Janevia Taylor led the way with eight assists.

It was far from perfect for the 'Bows as they had 21 turnovers, but that didn't hurt much. Hawai'i outscored Idaho, 22-16, off turnovers, and held its opponent to 38-percent shooting.

"Jim does a great job with his team," said Idaho coach Mike Divilbis, who started three juniors and two freshmen. "That matchup zone is very high-level stuff. It's very hard to play against especially with an inexperienced team."

Hawai'i led by double digits early in the second half and stretched its lead to 61-40 on Tambini's 3-pointer with 9:43 left. The Vandals responded with an 18-3 run — Witte and Charlotte Otero scored six apiece during the surge — to cut the deficit to 64-58 with 4:34 remaining, but they would get no closer.

"There's no quit in our kids," Divilbis said. "I'm really going to enjoy watching them progress and improve."

In the the first half, Hawai'i took a 30-20 lead when Smith, who had 12 points in the first 20 minutes, scored on consecutive layups.

The 'Bows pushed their lead to 12 two times — the last at 41-29 when Cassidy Chretien stole the ball and fed a streaking Taylor for a layup — and took a 41-31 advantage at the break.

Hawai'i center Brittany Grice finished with five blocks, including two where she rejected the ball off Madison out of bounds.

The Rainbow Wahine host Boise State on Saturday night with tipoff at 7.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.