HILO, Hawaii --- The Western Oregon women's basketball team nearly rallied, but fell short to Hawaii Hilo 56-49 Wednesday in the opener of the Big Island Holiday Classic at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorioum.

The Wolves (2-3) trailed 48-40 to the Vulcans (1-1) with less than six minutes left in the contest before a Mya India Thomas jumper, a pair of Salma Youngblood free throws and a bucket by Natalie Brown with 4:33 left had WOU within two at 48-46. 

Unfortunately for the Wolves, it's as close as they would get as a key 3-pointer by Keanumarie Huihui with 37 seconds left dashed WOU's hopes.

While WOU was against strong on the glass - outrebounding UHH 51-41 and grabbing 18 offensive rebounds - the Wolves couldn't convert the extra opportunities, shooting 28.1 percent from the field (including 4-for-19 - 21.1 percent - from 3-point range). 

Bella Pedrojetti led the Wolves with 14 points to go along with nine rebounds. Thomas finished with 10 points and four boards while Natalie Brown had seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

WOU takes Thanksgiving off before returning to take on No. 18 CSU Dominguez Hills on 3 p.m. (PT) Friday.