The growing pains continue for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team, which is not only searching for its first win, but more importantly better execution and cohesion.
The growing pains continue for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team, which is not only searching for its first win, but more importantly better execution and cohesion.
Despite a spirited second-half effort, Alaska Fairbanks ran past the Vulcans 87-55 on Saturday before 237 fans at Hilo Civic, closing a compressed schedule for both teams.
The Vulcans (0-3) lost consecutive games to No. 7 Alaska Anchorage, and looked tired against the Nanooks (3-2), who lost to BYU-Hawaii on Wednesday and beat Chaminade on Thursday.
UHH’s next six games are on the road, starting with Armstrong (Ga.) State on Thanksgiving in the two-day Oahu Classic.
The Vuls feature a new-look lineup and struggled from the start against the Nanooks, who bolted to a 14-0 cushion, snagging three offensive rebounds to pocket its first two buckets.
UHH coach David Kaneshiro called a quick timeout after that 4-0 punch-in-the-stomach start, and gave his players a stern message.
He probably didn’t like what came next: Jaylee Mays beat two Vuls down the court for a layup off a missed shot. UHH’s transition defense didn’t make it to the Civic yet.
“We wanted to come out and get defensive stops right away and score early. We wanted to push the ball in transition,” said UAF coach Cody Bench, no relation to Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench.
Bench saw a good deal of potential in the Vuls, who battled hard on the boards and were barely outrebounded, 40-34.
“Hilo has good up-and-coming physical players, and they’ll be great once they get on the same page,” she said. “Their coach has done a nice job with the new recruits. When they put things together, they’ll look a lot more consistent.”
UHH’s transition defense was still out of service a play later when Mays outraced everyone, and scored another layup off a turnover.
The Vuls couldn’t recover from that 14-0 early deficit, and still had issues against another team’s zone press and zone defense, one reason they shot 32 percent (18 of 57).
“It was a tough day. Give Fairbanks credit. They had us on our heels in the first half,” Kaneshiro said. “In the second half, we were more competitive and came back and showed toughness and fight. That was good to see.”
Kim Schmelz, a 5-foot-9 freshman guard, was again the most productive player with 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting, though she did have six turnovers in 22 minutes. She was the only Vulcan in double figures.
UHH has yet to show anything resembling a post game, and it’s tough to get kickouts and open 3-point looks. The Vuls went 2 of 16 from long range; the Nanooks 6 of 21.
In the first half, the Vulcans couldn’t find any type of offensive flow in half-court sets. Too often, they looked like five strangers thrown together.
The ball movement, spacing and patience were better in the second half to free up higher-percentage shots. UHH scored just 23 points in the first two periods and 32 points in the second half.
Schmelz made 6 of 6 free throws and her teammates also attacked the rim as the Vuls went 17 of 23 from the line. UAF sunk 15 of 23 free throws.
Fans may not enjoy watching someone shoot free throws, unless it’s to win a game, but it’s always an incentive because it tags fouls.
That helped the Vuls, sort of.
UAF’s best player, Jordan Wilson, who averaged 15.6 ppg last season, picked up four fouls and played just 14 minutes.
However, the 5-11 junior forward was rather efficient with 23 points on 11 of 11 shooting, scoring the same way each time: getting the ball on the right block, dropping stepping a Vul to the baseline, and banking in an easy shot.
Asked if she can shot with her left hand, Bench joked that Wilson can if the play is run on the left block. However, that wasn’t necessary.
With her fundamentally sound post footwork against UHH, Wilson looked the second coming of Kevin McHale of the old Boston Celtics.
“You can’t give up that position. The play starts before the ball enters the post,” said Kaneshiro, mindful that Wilson is a bit bigger than any Vul.
UHH’s post defensive woes also extended to UAF’s other big, 6-1 slender forward Stephanie Toumson, who turned in either direction to fire away and scored 24 points on 8 of 13 shooting.
Like No. 7 Alaska Anchorage, the Nanooks are from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and were picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the preseason poll.
The Nanooks are not as athletic as UAA, but they do similar things like move the ball, cut and screen to find a quality shot, and play tough defense, especially in transition.
No Vulcan got an easy layup in transition. All of the Nanooks always hustled back on defense. And they were ready to play, particularly in the first three minutes when they seized that insurmountable 14-0 lead.
“We’ve shown flashes in the three games,” Kaneshiro said. “We need to be more consistent.”
Aloha trip
The Nanooks took advantage of their time on Oahu. They went to Pearl Harbor and Waimea Bay on the North Shore.
UAF also helped itself in the West Region rankings, beating Chaminade and UHH.
The GNAC champion gets an automatic qualifier, and the rest of the schools need an at-large berth to the eight-team West Regional. (Last year, UAA and Seattle Pacific represented the GNAC.)
“Our goal is definitely to win games, but especially for our student-athletes we want to give the kids some fun,” Bench said. “Some have never been on an airplane before. We stayed in Waikiki and did some sight seeing. The most entertaining part was our assistant coach (Brett Sawyer) at the beach because he’s afraid of sharks.”