Amy Sanders can rest easier now that her University of Hawai'i women's basketball team is back on the winning track.

Sanders' game-winning putback with 0.9 seconds left rallied Hawai'i to a 68-66 Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic victory over Texas A&M yesterday.

"Making the game-winner will allow me to sleep tonight," said Sanders, whose Rainbow Wahine lost to Wisconsin, 77-67, in a semifinal Saturday. "When I play bad, I don't get too much sleep."

A crowd of 639 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i (3-2) finish third in the eight-team tournament. It was Hawai'i's best Rainbow Wahine tournament showing since its third-place finish in 2001.

The game seemed destined for overtime after Texas A&M's A'Quonesia Franklin hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 66 with 16.3 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Hawai'i's Cassidy Chretien drove the right baseline, drew three defenders and missed a layup. Sanders grabbed the weakside rebound and hit the putback.

"I was lucky to get underneath the basket for the rebound," said Sanders, who finished with 14 points. "I was kind of worried about the time running out, but I didn't want to throw it up there, so I tried to take my time. It worked out for us."

Chretien said Sanders was the primary option on the final play, but Sanders wasn't open, so she drove baseline and attempted a shot.

"When you're the smallest man on the court, you find a way to get a shot up there," said the 5-foot-5 Chretien. "But Amy had my back. That's what a team does."

The final horn sounded before Texas A&M got off a shot.

"The game should have went into overtime, but give Sanders credit," Aggies coach Gary Blair said. "That was the kid we planned on stopping."

In the championship, No. 17 DePaul defeated Wisconsin, 76-57.

Hawai'i played without starting junior guard Janevia Taylor whom coach Jim Bolla suspended for yesterday's game for "conduct detrimental to the team." He did not elaborate.

Without Taylor, Hawai'i rotated Dalia Solia, Amy Kotani, Chretien and Sanders as primary ballhandlers against Texas A&M (2-2).

"She has every opportunity to come back, and get herself back into the starting lineup," Bolla said of Taylor, the team's second-leading scorer at 10.5 points per game.

Chretien scored 13, Solia 10 and Pam Tambini 10 for Hawai'i. Brittany Grice had 11 rebounds and nine points.

"I think we proved to ourselves and our loyal fans that we can do this; we can hang with good teams like Texas A&M," Grice said. "That's a good Big 12 team."

Morenike Atunrase scored a game-high 19 points and Tamea Scales added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Texas A&M.

Hawai'i fell behind 13-0 after the first 2:30 of the game, and trailed 38-33 at intermission.

The Aggies led 47-37 in the second half, but Hawai'i went on an 11-0 run for a 48-47 lead with 12:22 remaining. Chretien scored six points during the surge.

Hawai'i went ahead 66-63 on baskets by Tanya Smith and Chretien with 31 seconds left.

CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 17 DePaul 76, Wisconsin 57: Tournament MVP Khara Smith had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Blue Demons (5-0) past the Badgers (4-1). Jenna Rubino added 17 points and Allie Quigley 14 for DePaul. Wisconsin's Janese Banks had 17 points and Jolene Anderson 12.

FIFTH PLACE

Washington State 65, Cal State Northridge 64: Charmaine Jones scored 15 points as the Cougars (4-1) defeated the Matadors (1-4). Kate Benz added 14 rebounds for Washington State. Megan Ching, a Kamehameha alum, had five points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals for Northridge.

SEVENTH PLACE

Idaho State 78, Eastern Michigan 61: Natalie Doma scored 19 points to lead four Idaho State (1-3) past the Eagles (2-3). Andrea Lightfoot added 16 points, Jeni Boesel 12, Michelle Grohs 12 and Chelsey Chambers 10 for Idaho State. Joanna Hixon added 15 rebounds.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.