It's no wonder Chattanooga coach Wes Moore calls Alex Anderson his "go-to player."

The 6-foot-1 junior forward tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds, and converted a key layup in the final minutes as the Lady Mocs fended off Hawai'i, 65-62, in the Paradise Classic title game yesterday.

"Her quickness and her length can create some matchup problems," Moore said. "She's definitely our go-to player, and the one we try to isolate and get some looks."

A crowd of 343 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Rainbow Wahine (5-5) nearly rally from a 17-point first-half deficit against the Lady Mocs (6-4).

Hawai'i had a late chance to tie the game, but Janevia Taylor's desperation 3-point attempt from the top of the key missed with about four ticks left.

"It wasn't a shot that I wanted," Taylor said. "It wasn't a part of our play."

The loss spoiled a record night for Taylor, a senior point guard, who scored her 1,000th career point in the first half, and joined 14 other UH players in the prolific scoring club.

"It would have been nice to get the record and a 'W'," Taylor said. "Individual goals, it doesn't mean nothing until we start getting some wins."

Hawai'i's Pam Tambini scored a game-high 22 points and added four assists, and Brittany Grice contributed 12 points and four rebounds.

After the game, Hawai'i coach Jim Bolla said his team would have difficulty in reaching its goal of winning the Western Athletic Conference by struggling in crunch time.

Down the stretch last night, Hawai'i hurt itself with poor shot selection, an offensive foul and a botched final play.

"I told them in the locker room, I'm tired of hearing them in the newspapers, saying they want to win the WAC," Bolla said. "You can't have that goal if you're going to perform like this. Talking about it, and doing it, it's two different things."

Before the final shot, in a timeout with 13 seconds left, Bolla said he planned to get Hawai'i's post players — Grice or Tanya Smith — a quick bucket inside, with the possibility of a foul for a 3-point play. The ensuing option was a 3-point attempt by wing Saundra Cariaga.

But Hawai'i messed up the play, and Taylor was forced to hoist a 22-footer over Anderson's outstretched arms.

"We went into chaos mode," Bolla said. "It was a breakdown, and we tried to create something. You can't do that. You have to run the play the way it was designed."

In the meantime, Hawai'i doesn't have another game to redeem itself until the Dec. 29-30 Hawai'i Invitational.

"It's frustrating," Tambini said. "We have so much potential and we're not playing to it. We know we can win, but we don't get it done. We're making stupid mistakes and tonight we came out flat."

Taylor scored eight consecutive points in the second half to get Hawai'i to within 45-37. During the surge, Taylor scored on a layup, scored off a steal, hit a short jumper in the key, and scored off another steal.

Chattanooga extended its lead to 54-44, but Hawai'i came back to within 63-59 when Smith lobbed a pass to Taylor for a layup.

But Anderson delivered in the clutch, racing down the court after a Hawai'i miss and scoring a layup off a long outlet pass from Laura Hall with 1:47 left.

Tambini responded with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the deficit to 65-62 with 1 minute remaining, but that's as close as Hawai'i would get.

"We just ran out of gas," Bolla said.

In the first half, Chattanooga started hitting from long range with three 3-pointers in the first five minutes, and took a 17-7 lead when Anderson, who had 12 points in the first half, scored on a layup.

About four minutes later, Taylor drove the lane and was fouled on a shot attempt with 10:33 left. She hit the second foul shot for her scoring milestone.

Hawai'i cut the deficit to 22-16 on Tambini's short jumper in the lane, but Anderson responded, scoring six points during a 15-4 run to extend Chattanooga's lead to 37-20.

The Lady Mocs led 39-26 at intermission.

Chattanooga's Shanara Hollinquest scored 14 points and nine rebounds, and Hall contributed 12 points, four assists and four rebounds.

Evansville 87, Portland State 81: Rebekah Parker scored 26 points as the Purple Aces (6-4) overcame Kelsey Kahle's game-high 33 points to fend off the Vikings (2-8) for the consolation title.

Evansville shot 47 percent from the field (27 of 58) and 88 percent from the free-throw line (29 of 33).

Evansville's Shannon Novosel added 18 points and Ashley Austin scored 11.

Portland State's Jenni Ritter scored 14 points and Stephisha Walton had 11.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.