Road trip of the year begins in Utah for Vulcans
 
Hawai`i Hilo (4-9/4-6 PWC) @ Dixie State (2-10/2-16 PWC), Saturday (Jan. 28, 5 pm MST), Burns Arena (St. George, Utah)
Live Stream/Live Stats/Radio Broadcast at www.dixieathletics.com.
 
Hilo Headlines: The valiant Vulcans saw their three-game win streak come to an end on Saturday against second-place Hawai`i Pacific, but not before they gave the Sharks a scare and showed again their never-say-die approach. Trailing by as many as 18 points in the second quarter, Coach David Kaneshiro's team rallied back to take a brief lead in the third quarter before eventually coming up short, 56-47. Two days prior, they clipped Holy Names (62-61) for their third consecutive win.

Road Trip From Heck: UHH begins a four-game road trip this week with a Saturday clash at Dixie State. Following that are dates at PacWest leader California Baptist (Jan. 30), Azusa Pacific (Feb. 2) and Point Loma (Feb. 4). The Vulcans won't be back in Hilo until a Feb. 9 match-up at Vulcan Gymnasium against Fresno Pacific. 

By the Numbers: Kim Schmelz has 90 points in her last five games and now leads the team in scoring with 14.1 points a game. As a freshman in 2015-16, she paced the squad with 12 points an outing. She has potted over 20 three times in her nine games, including a career-best 28 in an overtime win at BYU-Hawaii...Sydney Mercer is also in double figures with 11.1 points a game and had a career-high 24 on Thursday against Holy Names...Freshman Sharlei Graham-Bernisto scored in double figures for the first time in her collegiate career, twice. She had 13 against Azusa Pacific and 12 versus Concordia, in both cases coming off the bench. She hit a pair of treys in both games...Alexa Jacobs leads the team in assists with 41. She had a season-best of eight against Chaminade on Dec. 10...Senior Vanessa Mancera paces the squad with 15 three-pointers made...Mercer and Jacobs are the only two Vulcans to start in all 13 games. Graham-Bernisto leads the squad in minutes played (29.1 per game), with Jacobs right behind at 29.0....Mercer leads the team in free throw accuracy at .800 (24-of-30)...Asia Smith averages 7.1 points and 8.8 rebounds a game. In her first game in a Vulcans uniform, she pulled down 17 rebounds against Cal State Dominguez Hills, two shy of the UHH single-game record.

Defending the Basket: UH Hilo lists fourth in the 14-team Pacific West Conference in defense, giving up 66.6 points a game.

Welcome Back Seniors: Coach Kaneshiro welcomed back a pair of seniors to the line-up in Asia Smith and Lauren Hong. Smith (6-0 center) had missed four games before returning to pull down seven boards at BYU-Hawaii. She then grabbed nine carooms in the win over Holy Names and had 13 in the upset attempt versus Hawaii Pacific. Hong (5-5 guard) had missed over a month of the season and seven total games. She returned this week and hit back-to-back buckets against Hawaii Pacific to put UHH in the lead late in the third quarter. Hong averaged 10.0 a game last season. For the Vulcans, who were down to eight players in early January, they are now only missing 6-0 sophomore post Patience Taylor, who is still nursing a hand injury.

Kaneshiro's Comments: "We have played very well since coming back from the break," said head coach David Kaneshiro. "I attribute that in part to the great practices that we had as soon as they came back--and that is not easy to do. Traditionally, those are tough practices to work through. But it says a lot about this team. They are mentally tough. Through our injuries and challenges, everyone has stepped up. They play very hard and never give up. From a coach's perspective, they are a great group to work with. Now that they have had some success, they are hungry for more."
 
Sharlei Steals: When Hawai`i Hilo defeated Holy Names on Thursday (62-61), Kim Schmelz and Sydney Mercer combined for 48 of the teams' 62 points, with 24 counters each. But it was defense in the waning moments of the game, specifically the theft work of freshman Sharlei Graham-Bernisto, that saved the day. In each of the Hawks' final two possessions, they had opportunity to take the lead and/or win the game. But enter speedster Graham-Bernisto, who each time picked the pocket of HNU's top scorer--once with 41 seconds left and again with three ticks remaining on the clock. The rookie and Hilo High School alum is tied for the team lead in that category with Vanessa Mancera, both with 18.

Head Coach David Kaneshiro: Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro (69-92) is in his seventh season as the leader of the UHH program. Prior to his appointment as the Vulcans head coach, he was an assistant with the men's program for four seasons. He led UHH to winning campaigns in 2011-12 (14-12) and 2012-13 (13-11). Prior to his arrival at Hilo, he was the head coach for three seasons Blackburn College (Ill.), where he twice won conference championships and in 2006 was named the St. Louis Athletic Conference co-coach of the year. He also spent two seasons as the head coach at Webster University (Mo.). He served one season as the lead assistant at Stanislaus State.
 
A Look Back: Last year the Vulcans went 0-5 in non-conference play but righted the ship for PacWest action, finishing 10-10 in league and just missing the PWC tournament by one spot, finishing in seventh place. They were 10-15 overall.
 
Trailblazer Talk: Picked to finish seventh this season in the PacWest, Dixie State has uncharacteristically struggled to a 2-16 overall record and a 2-10 mark in league play. They have league wins over Notre Dame de Namur (in the tournament playoff hunt) and Fresno Pacific, but have dropped their last three games and will be looking for their first win at home on Saturday. 5-6 sophomore guard Tramina Jordan leads the Trailblazers in scoring at 11.0 points per game, while 6-0 junior center Aslee Burge adds 10.1 points and 5.7 rebounds a contest. Dixie State leads the all-time series between the two schools (15-4), but the Vulcans got the win a year ago in Hilo (68-63)--paced by Kim Schmelz (19 points), Sydney Mercer (14) and Lauren Hong (10).

Pacific West Conference Standings
Team                                   PWC               Overall
California Baptist                  10-0                  19-2
Hawai`i Pacific                       9-1                   12-3
Point Loma                             9-2                   15-3
Academy of Art                      7-3                   11-7
Notre Dame de Namur            7-4                     9-9
Azusa Pacific                          7-4                   9-10
Dominican                               6-6                   10-9
BYU-Hawaii                           5-5                     8-8
Concordia                               5-5                     7-9
Hawai`i Hilo                           4-6                     4-9
Chaminade                              2-10                 2-14
Dixie State                              2-10                 2-16
Fresno Pacific                         1-9                   4-14
Holy Names                            1-10                 1-16
 
(Through games of Jan. 22)