The UH-Hilo women’s basketball team’s first victory of the season came with a certain degree of difficulty against Chaminade that won’t exist the remainder of the season.
That the Vulcans steadily built on a second-quarter lead hints that they “eased” or “coasted” past the Silverswords 54-39 on Saturday at Honolulu’s McCabe Gym, but according to coach David Kaneshiro, this was a story of perseverance.
“It was pretty tough, I wouldn’t say it was smooth,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect from them because we had nothing on film of them.
“We looked a little sluggish early on but were able to get to the basket a little bit more in the second half. It’s good that our players persevered, and that we won when we didn’t play our best game.”
Kim Schmelz led three scorers in double-figures with 14 points, Mandi Kawaha stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, and UHH (1-2 Pacific West Hawaii pod) held Chaminade (0-1) to just four field goals in the second half and 24.5% shooting overall.
The teams will play again at noon Sunday in their second of sixth meetings this season.
Along with shooting better from 3-point range, where it was 2 of 17, Kaneshiro hopes his team replicates its second-half defense. In the first half, he felt the Silverswords – who were ranked eighth in the PacWest’s preseason poll, one spot ahead of the Vuls – got to the basket too easily.
“We tightened that up,” Kaneshiro said.
UHH, meanwhile, sliced its way to 36 points in the paint, mostly by driving to the basket.
The Vuls used seven players. Saddled on the bench with three fouls for much of the first half, Jenna Waki was productive in her 20 minutes of playing time, matching a career-high with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Waki’s driving layup on the baseline capped a 9-3 run to open the second half to give UHH its first double-digit lead, 36-25.
“She played solid without fouling and had a good game,” Kaneshiro said.
Both of UHH’s inside player, Bree Olson and Malia Lee, fouled out, though Olson managed six points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Mikayla Tablit also scored six points and led the way with five assists against no turnovers.
Arianna Blowe led Chaminade with 14 points and nine rebounds. Emma Morris’ 3-pointer cut the Silverswords’ deficit to 44-36 near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but that was her team’s final field goal. Layups by Olson and Schmelz sandwiched between jumpers by Kawaha and Waki put the game out of reach at 52-37.
