Typically, must-wins in the NCAA are found in February as teams try to find a path to a postseason tournament, but this has been anything but a conventional season for the University of Hawaii at Hilo women’s basketball team.
In the middle of a five-game homestand, the Vulcans desperately needed a win Monday night against the Pacific West Conference’s only winless team, Fresno Pacific.
They got it with a strong defensive effort, especially in the post where the Vulcans (3-4 PacWest, 3-9 overall) shut down the Sunbirds’ two biggest offensive threats in a 61-53 win at Hilo Civic.
“We spent some time these past few days talking about what it takes to win games in this conference,” said coach David Kaneshiro. “We talked about playing with effort, more intensity and doing it from start to finish.
“This was a good move in that direction,” he said. “I’m proud for the way they battled, I thought we competed hard from beginning to end.”
Junior Sydney Mercer led the Vulcans with 25 points, going 7-for-10 from the floor with two 3-pointers to go along with 9-of-10 from the foul line. Teammate Lauren Hong had 13 points, all from the line where she missed only three shots.
“It was just a case where I got the ball in good positions to do something,” Mercer said, “it wasn’t about me, it was about my teammates, they really came through.
“You know, we had a long trip and we didn’t do the job at the end so we came back sort of down, we let one get away. It’s been tough because nobody really knew anybody before the season so it’s taken time, more than we would like, for sure, to start to feel like we’re coming together, but you can tell we’re getting there now. We just have to keep it up and make this effort carry over.”
Despite trailing 20-19, UH Hilo held the Sunbirds (0-10, 2-14) to just 25 percent shooting (8-32), from the floor in the first half, but they were ineffective on the offensive boards again, trailing in that department, 8-2, where Fresno Pacific capitalized on three baskets, just enough to take the lead.
The Vulcans regained control in a foul-filled third quarter when they scored 12 of their 19 points from the foul line and limited the Sunbirds to just two field goals. UH-Hilo kept the visitors without a field goal for a full 9:31 of game time that stretched from the final minute of the second quarter until Taylor Caspars converted from inside with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
From that point on, the Vulcans had the edge even though they were pounded again on the offensive boards where FPU had a 21-3 advantage. Even so, the Sunbirds’ two post players, Jasmine Shedrick (3-for-13) and Caspars (3-for-15), were able to combine for just 6-for-28 from the paint.
“There isn’t a team we can beat anywhere if we shoot 26 percent,” said Fresno Pacific coach Lindsey Wilson. “It started out slowly, but they started making some shots and we just kept missing them.”
Next up for the Vulcans is Dixie State (3-6, 3-11), on Thursday, losers at home Monday to Point Loma Nazarene, 82-75.
