HONOLULU, Hawai`i—A slow start helped make the inevitable come to life a little bit earlier than the Hawai`i Hilo women's basketball team had hoped for during a 85-34 exhibition loss to Hawai`i on Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Transfer Safia Sheikh led UH Hilo with nine points and seven rebounds. The former BYU-Hawaii standout played just 22 minutes as Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro spread the playing time out across his ten-person travel roster.
 
The Rainbow Wahine, a team that returns all five starters and is picked fourth in the Big West Conference pre-season poll, was led by 2017 All-Big West pick Sarah Toeaina, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. Hawai`i had five players in double figures.
 
The Vulcans got off to a slow start as Hawai`i jumped out to a 9-0 lead and UHH missed their first five shots. Danielle Dacosta broke the drought with a lay-up five minutes in and soon Alyssa Movchan hit a three to make the count, 11-5.
 
But the Rainbow Wahine got on a roll from there, sprinting to a 24-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Vulcans scored three points in the first three minutes of the second quarter but UH Manoa answered again with a 15-2 run and would lead at the break, 39-11. The hosts would outscore UH Hilo 23-16 in the third quarter before finally settling for the final 85-34 tally.
 
Kim Schmelz added seven points and four boards. But the Vulcans were mostly cold all night, converting just 23 percent of their shots from the field and hitting only three of 16 three-point attempts. The taller Rainbow Wahine controlled the boards, 47-24.
 
The Vulcans will open their season for real a little over a week from now, when they travel to Fairbanks to take on Alaska in a two-game series on November 10-11.