New Mexico State's Cecelia Russell-Nava put on a one-woman scoring show, and the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team fizzled from the foul line in a 72-69 loss in double overtime last night.

Russell-Nava scored 11 points in the two overtime periods, and the Rainbow Wahine went 22 of 42 from the foul stripe for the game played before 723 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"This is totally embarrassing," Hawai'i coach Jim Bolla said. "There's no excuse for missing 20 free throws."

It was Hawai'i's second consecutive overtime loss following Thursday's 71-66 overtime defeat to visiting Louisiana Tech.

The Rainbow Wahine fell to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Aggies improved to 5-10 and 2-2.

"We're just disappointed," Hawai'i guard Amy Sanders said. "Two overtime games, and you can't win any of them. We didn't make shots down the stretch."

Russell-Nava hit three 3-pointers in the two overtimes, including the go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the key that gave the Aggies a 70-67 lead with 2:45 left. Russell-Nava scored all but one of her team's 12 points in the two overtimes.

"I was just fortunate it went in," said Russell-Nava, who finished with 17 points. "I felt I was open, and coach told me to take an open shot. We're just really happy right now to have a win on the road."

After Sanders' layup pulled Hawai'i to 70-69, the Rainbow Wahine had a chance to go ahead when the Aggies fouled sophomore forward Tanya Smith with nine seconds remaining.

Smith, a 70-percent foul shooter, missed both free throws. Russell-Nava was fouled on the ensuing play, and she hit two free throws for a 72-69 lead with 7.2 seconds left.

Sanders' last-second 3-point attempt from the left wing under heavy pressure was off the mark.

"It's just a huge win," New Mexico State coach Darin Spence said. "It feels like we won two games against a very good basketball team, and very well-coached team."

New Mexico State's Jenean Ford hit a foul shot with 9.8 seconds in regulation to send the game into overtime tied at 60.

A pair of foul shots by Hawai'i's Brittany Grice with 35.2 seconds left sent the game to its second overtime tied at 67.

Sanders scored a game-high 19 points and Grice added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Aggies' Irma Kmitaite added 17 points, and Ford 11. Sherrell Neal had 13 rebounds.

The Rainbow Wahine jumped to a 4-0 lead, but the Aggies responded with a 20-6 run for a 20-10 advantage midway through the first half. The Aggies hit five 3-pointers during the surge, including three by Kmitaite.

Led by Sanders, Hawai'i engineered a 23-11 run that was capped by Smith's layup for a 33-31 lead at intermission. Sanders scored nine of her 11 first-half points during the surge.

New Mexico State shot 6 of 11 from 3-point range in the first half, and finished 10 of 19 for the game. The smaller Aggies also outrebounded the Rainbow Wahine, 47-46.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.