HILO, Hawai`i—Sydney Mercer and Kim Schmelz tossed in 24 points each but it was the defensive wizardry of Sharlei Graham-Bernisto that helped seal a 62-61 Hawai`i Hilo women's basketball victory over Holy Names on Thursday night at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

It was the third straight victory for the upstart Vulcans, who improved to 4-5 in the Pacific West Conference and 4-8 overall. It was a heartbreaking ninth consecutive loss for the Hawks, who dropped to 1-15 overall and 1-9 in the PWC.

Schmelz and Mercer accounted for all but 14 of UHH's point production on the night. But it was the freshman guard from Hilo that came up with two steals—both in Holy Names' final two possessions, that kept the hot Hawks from pulling off the upset.

In each case, Graham-Bernisto thefted Taylor Krouse, who up to that point was almost single-handedly carrying her team on offense. Krouse, who finished with 18 points, had 16 of those in the second half and 13 of them in the fourth quarter.

The Vulcans had taken a 62-61 lead on a Schmelz free throw with 42 seconds left in a lead-trading fourth quarter. Then came Graham-Bernisto's first steal with 38 seconds left, and the Vuls looked to work the clock. A Vulcan miss gave the ball back to the Hawks for a final potential game winner. The ball went to Krouse of course, but Graham-Bernisto stripped her clean again with just three seconds left and Holy Names couldn't foul as the clock ran out.

Mercer's 24 points was a career-high, as was UHH's ten three-pointers in the game (10-19). Asia Smith had nine rebounds to lead her team in that category. For Holy Names, Krouse had help via the near double-double from Onjalise Carley-Hilliard who had 11 points and nine rebounds.

It was an interesting game from the start.

Thanks to the three-pointer, and almost literally the three-pointer only, the Vulcans held a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. UHH's  Schmelz and Mercer hit two treys each to account for 12 of the home team's 14 points. The other two points came on a pair of Smith free throws.

Schmelz and Mercer continued their torrid long-distance accuracy into the second period. They each hit another deep ball before finally missing—giving the Vulcans six made treys in the first half, equaling their season high for a game this year. The Vulcans carried a 30-24 lead into the halftime locker room, as Schmelz had 13 points and Mercer 12.

Mercer scored moments into the third quarter to give the Vulcans a 32-26 lead, but  the Hawks would then begin to crawl back. With five minutes left in the period,  Krouse converted a three-point play to make it 35-35. With two minutes left in the third, Jeana Magana scored to give the Hawks their first lead since the opening basket of the game (37-35). A conventional three-point play in the final moments of the period by Schmelz gave the lead back to UHH (41-39), but the back-and-forth was now on.

There were an amazing 17 lead changes in the fourth quarter. The Hawks led by four points at 51-47 after Krouse trey with 6:20 left, but no more two points separated the teams after that until the final buzzer. Carley-Hilliard's rebound basket with a minute to play was HNU's final lead of the night.

The Vulcans look to carry their 2017 calendar year momentum into a tough challenge on Saturday afternoon when they take on second-place Hawai`i Pacific. Start time at the Civic Auditorium will be 1 p.m.