Hawai'i ran out of time and remarkable saves yesterday, falling to third-ranked and third-seeded UCLA, 8-7, in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo Championship.

Without sophomore goalie Serena Bredin, it would have been worse for the Rainbow Wahine, before a raucous home crowd at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. Bredin was beyond brilliant in the first half or this would have been a blowout at halftime.

The 'Bows (16-8) averted that danger, but could not make up for a disastrous third quarter. Still, they gave themselves a shot at winning their eighth straight. Down 8-4 going into the final quarter, they scored three goals in the last 4:06.

They finally got the ball inside, where Leonie Van Der Molen pounded in two goals and Carmen Eggens converted on a power play with 31 seconds left.

It was too late. The Bruins, four-time defending NCAA champs, simply held the ball to run the clock out.

"They have a good team. Where we lacked, and they monopolized us, was our mistakes," UH coach Michel Roy said. "We worked so hard for so many minutes, three quarters or more and then ... they scored on a swim-off and that should never happen, and a couple bad passes and they monopolized. That's what they can do. At the end we came back and played with heart but it was too late."

Bredin was other-worldly early. She had five saves in the first quarter — three from point-blank range with the Bruins on breakaways. Two came in the first minute of the game.

"I really wanted to win," said Bredin. "Every time they came down, I wanted to stop them."

UCLA finally got by Bredin when Priscilla Orozco drilled a goal from outside a minute later, but the 'Bows tied it with 5:35 showing on Eggens' splash shot inside.

After a sixth Bredin block to start the second quarter (she would finish with 12), Hawai'i took its only lead, at 2-1, on a power-play goal by Saara Majuri. UCLA (21-5) would score three straight goals in less than a minute — two by Orozco, who finished with a game-high four — to take the lead for good, but the 'Bows closed within one on Lisa Van Raalte's backhand goal.

The Bruins took control by outscoring Hawai'i 3-1 in the first three minutes of the third quarter, getting two easy goals against a confused UH defense. That changed when the 'Bows went to their press in the final quarter, but their offense could not score fast enough.

"We took smarter shots in the second half," said UCLA coach Adam Krikorian, recently named to lead the U.S. women's national team. "I give her (Bredin) credit. She played great in the first quarter, but I also thought we didn't shoot the ball the way we typically do, whether it was nerves or over-anxiety. I was really proud of the way my team was able to rebound and execute."

The sixth-seeded Rainbows, who are ranked fourth nationally, play a consolation game against seventh-seeded San Diego State at 4:30 p.m. today. If they win, they play for fifth tomorrow and, Roy hopes, an at-large bid to next month's NCAA Tournament.

Krikorian, whose team lost to UH for the first time in history this season, believes the 'Bows should be there. Roy, whose team was devastated when it was passed over for SDSU two years ago despite beating the Aztecs twice, knows all his team can do is win.

"This is not it," Roy said. "What we do the next two games is very, very important. That's where we're at."