HILO, Hawai`i—Visiting Notre Dame de Namur broke open a close game by outscoring Hawai`i Hilo 23-10 in the third quarter to pull away for a 70-58 victory in women's basketball action at Vulcan Gymnasium.
The win gives the Argonauts a 2-0 record on their Hawaii swing, and they are also now 2-0 in the Pacific West Conference. They are 4-5 overall. In dropping their 2016-17 home opener, the Vulcans fell to 1-2 in conference play and are now 1-4 overall.
Vanessa Mancera led UHH with 15 points.
Sydney Mercer (12) and
Lauren Hong (11) joined her in double figures.
The Vulcans went on a 5-0 run in the final 1:30s of the first quarter to lead at the first break, 19-14. A Hong three-pointer and an inside basket by
Pilialoha Kailiawa helped give the Vulcans their highest scoring quarter of the season.
Mercer scored three consecutive baskets early in the second quarter to give the hosts their largest lead of the first half (25-16) with 6:50 left before intermission. But the Argonauts battled back with the final two buckets of the first 20 minutes to close the gap to 29-26 at the halftime break.
The Argonauts scored the first two baskets of the third quarter to take the lead and then began firing on all cylinders. A trio of three-pointers by Aubrey Mendonca helped put the visitors up by eight points (47-39) and they closed out the quarter on a 15-14 run to lead 49-39 heading into the final ten minutes. The Argos reversed a three-point halftime deficit to take a ten-point lead at the break.
An 8-0 run by the Vuls at the beginning of the fourth quarter pulled them to within two points (49-47), capped by a three-point play from Mercer. But the Argos pulled away again, going on a 7-0 run to take a 60-49 lead with 3:45 remaining. The Vulcans would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Jerusha Paine had a double-double for NDNU with 21 points and 15 rebounds, both game highs. Marissa Caballero had 16 points, while Emily Tevez chipped in 15 for the Argonauts.
For UHH, Mercer had eight rebounds to go with her 12 points.
Asia Smith had 11 rebounds, five of them on the offensive end. But the home team hit only four of 17 trey attempts and converted only four of ten free throw opportunities.
The Vulcans will remain home and get a rematch next Saturday, hosting Chaminade at 5 p.m. at the Civic.
