Like much of the state yesterday, the University of Hawai'i women's basketball team seemed to be suffering from a hangover after a hugely victorious Friday night.

Yet, unlike those who basked in the warm afterglow of the UH football team's WAC championship win over Boise State, the Rainbow Wahine — one day removed from blowing out Lipscomb, 85-51 — found themselves out in the cold as they fell to Hartford, 76-63, in the second round of the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbows missed their first 10 shots, going scoreless for the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game as Hartford raced to a 9-0 lead and, as it turned out, control of the game.

Hawai'i freshman point guard Keisha Kanekoa finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals but got little support from her out-of-sync teammates.

Senior Tanya Smith, the reigning WAC player of the week, broke her string of four consecutive double-doubles this season with six points and two rebounds in 25 minutes. She and Iwona Zagrobelna, the team's only legitimate post threats, sat out much of the second half as head coach Jim Bolla turned to junior college transfer Ebony Jones to provide a spark.

Hartford, which shot 58 percent in the first half, were led by Danielle Hood (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Diana Delva (12 and 6).

"You've got to attribute (the 0-10 start) to Hartford," Bolla said. "They contained us. They kept us on one side of the floor and they didn't allow us to get anything going — and they were making everything."

The 'Bows' offensive woes were exacerbated by an uncharacteristically brutal night from the free-throw line. Hawai'i got to the line 21 times (compared to just 13 for Hartford) but could only convert eight attempts.

The Rainbows' play looked worse than the statistics indicated.

Hawai'i outperformed Hartford on the offensive boards (15 to 9), but couldn't capitalize on their put-back opportunities.

"We must have missed 10 layups tonight," Bolla said "If we make five of those, it's a different game."

While Hartford carved UH's half-court defense with constant motion and quick, incisive passes for easy scores — 44 of their points came in the paint — the Rainbows unraveled as one possession after another ended in airballs, point-blank clanks, and rocket passes to empty spaces.

"We had to call two timeouts just to get them to run the plays," Bolla said. "We called a timeout, told them what to run, and they still couldn't run it so we had to call another."

The opportunistic Hawks were also effective in transition, parlaying Hawai'i's 18 turnovers into 27 points.

The 'Bows committed three of their 10 first-half turnovers on consecutive possessions as the Hawks went on a second 9-0 run midway through the half to take a 32-17 lead.

"We weren't boxing out enough and we weren't getting to the boards," said Kanekoa, who kept UH in the game with 11 points (4-of-7 shooting from the field), three rebounds and two assists in the first half. "They jumped on us right from the beginning. They were awesome off the boards and they ran the floor well on the break."

Kanekoa said she was at a loss to explain the team's poor performance, particularly after dominating Lipscomb the night before.

"We always come out with intensity, but today we just didn't seem to have the same energy," she said.

Hawai'i plays Minnesota today, 3:20 p.m. at Stan Sheriff Center, for third place. Hartford plays Virginia for the title at 5:30 p.m.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.