LOS ANGELES — In a basketball game that was a blur of Bruin fastbreaks, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team trailed by double digits early last night and UCLA barely missed triple digits at the end.

The Bruins blew by Hawai'i, 98-52, in front of about 300 at Pauley Pavilion. It started much like UH coach Dana Takahara-Dias' debut at UC Riverside Tuesday, but there was nothing like the 'Bows' gritty comeback in their opener.

"If you asked me what we did well, I'd have to get back to you on that," Takahara said. "This is a stinging loss for our program. We played an excellent game against UC Riverside two days ago. We had to prepare for a Pac-10 school. Regardless of who our opponent is we need to focus on the little things and tonight we did not do them.

"UCLA's suffocating defense was a factor. It never let us rest, never let us get into sync. That's not an excuse. That's just another avenue to work on for the next game."

In the glare of the Westwood smog, the bigger, faster and much better Bruins (2-1) closed UH out early. They tied a school record with 12 3-pointers, pressured Hawai'i (1-1) into 24 turnovers and out-rebounded the 'Bows 42-25.

"What Hawai'i does is look at what they're good at," said second-year UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell, who won two NCAA titles as an assistant at Tennessee and another as a player. "They've got players that score and they've got athleticism. What you do from a game like this is come back, look at areas you can improve in and adjust. The one thing about the Hawai'i team is they never quit."

The 46-point margin was the eighth-worst in program history

"We got out-hustled," said glum UH captain Keisha Kanekoa. "We got a lot of things to work on, a long way to go to compete at this level."

You name it, the Bruins did it better, aside from pronouncing " 'Aiea" and "Honoka'a" during introductions.

They threw a series of presses at the bothered 'Bows and got eight steals from Markel Walker, who also chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Senior Erica Tukiainen — the game's leading scorer with 24 points — was a breathtaking, nearly rim-free, 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. She attributed her accuracy to shooting at "crooked rims" in Paris this summer while studying abroad.

And the "committed to running" Bruins sprinted at absolutely every opportunity —even with the outcome long decided.

Hawai'i was led by freshman Shawna Kuehu, who scored 15 points in her first start. Kuehu, the two-time state player of the year at Punahou, anchored the 'Bows' only run, hitting three straight twisting jumpers to cut the gap to 28-19 with eight minutes left in the first half.

UCLA called time, hit another 3-pointer after two of its 22 offensive rebounds, and outscored UH 21-9 the rest of the half.

"I think they are disappointed, I think they feel hurt," Takahara said. "But I'm glad of that because it means something to them. We ran into a really tough UCLA team and I learned we have a long ways to go. We will get there, but we need to take little Wahine baby steps."

At halftime, the Rainbows spoke about playing without fear. They played hard down to the bitter end —when the final Bruin finally got in and hit the final bucket — but never had a chance.

The mood was grim, particularly after Tuesday's giddy atmosphere, but the result was not a huge surprise for a team trying to recover from an 8-23 season and tumultuous coaching shakeup. Takahara called it another "teachable moment."

"I do believe there are some positives in this game," she said. "You could not see how hard our team worked. It's just on this given night we could not make the adjustments and execute what we wanted. The effort was there. We learn from it. We are not going to be bitter about it."

Tomorrow, the Rainbows close their season-opening trip at Cal State Bakersfield, another track team disguised as a basketball squad. It lost its last game to Miami, 111-93.

Hawai'i's home opener is Nov. 27 against 11th-ranked Arizona State — picked to finish ahead of UCLA in the Pac-10, in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic.

"I believe in our team," Takahara said. "I really do. We cannot forget tonight, we have to learn from it just be calm about it. We're not going to jump ship and forget our philosophy. We're going to have to grow from it. Tweak it a little but still march to the same beat."