Vulcans travel to Chaminade, host Douglas to close calendar
 
Hawai`i Hilo (2-2/1-1 PWC) @ Chaminade (0-4/0-3 PWC), Saturday, Dec. 16, 5:30 p.m., McCabe Gym, Honolulu.
Hawaii Hilo vs. Douglas (4-2), Tuesday, Dec. 19, 6 p.m., Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, Hilo.
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com
 
Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans will play two more games before closing out the calendar year, traveling to Oahu to play Chaminade on Saturday before hosting Douglas College (Canada) on Tuesday (Dec. 19). UHH will then take the holidays off before returning to Pacific West Conference play on Jan. 3 with a home game versus Notre Dame de Namur.
 
Distant Memory: It will be almost two weeks in between games by the time the Vulcans tip off against the Silverswords on Saturday night. Coach David Kaneshiro's team endured a crazy weekend at the first of the month, twice moving home playing sites (and seeing another game postponed) before settling for a split of games with Biola (W, 63-59) and Concordia (L, 61-51).
 
Glass is Half Full?: On Nov. 30, UH Hilo was scheduled to open the PacWest campaign against defending champion California Baptist at the UHH Gymnasium. Wet floor conditions, with no other local venue available, forced the game to be postponed. The contest has been rescheduled to take place on UH Hilo's southern California trip this winter, adding to an already tough slate. The game is set for Tuesday, February 13 in Riverside, in the middle of five games in ten days for the Vulcans. The positive part? The Vulcans will now get a preview of CBU's brand new Special Events Center, site of this years' Pacific West Conference tournament.
 
Splitting Eagles: The Vulcans opened PacWest play by hosting the conference's two newest members, Biola and Concordia. The Vulcans welcomed Biola for its' first-ever PacWest game, allowing the Eagles to take an 16-point second quarter lead before roaring back for the 63-59 win. Danielle Dacosta had 19 points and the game winning bucket to help spur the comeback. Two nights later against the other Eagles, UH Hilo ran out of bodies (four players fouled out) and didn't score for the final 5:30 of the game as Concordia snuck away with the 61-51 victory.
 
By the Numbers: Senior transfer Safia Sheikh (BYU-Hawaii) leads the Vulcans with an even 14 points a game and also leads her team in three-pointers made (13). The 5-10 guard is also second in rebounds (6.8). Danielle Dacosta is in double figures through four games (10.5) shooting a sizzling .593 from the floor, and freshman post Allie Navarette is just outside that at 9.8 and is third in rebounding (6.5). Senior Asia Smith has 18 rebounds in two games and 7.5 points a contest.
 
PacWest Pace Setters: The Vulcans lead the PacWest in defense, allowing just 56.3 points per game. The team is second in free throw percentage (.732). Allie Navarette leads the conference in free throw percentage at .850 (17-20) and Safia Sheikh paces the league in three-pointers per contest at 3.3 (13 total).

Missing Piece: Junior guard Kim Schmelz, last year's leading scorer, missed the two PacWest games after getting injured in practice the day before the Biola game. She is listed as questionable for these next two games against Chaminade and Douglas.
 
Mix and Match: The 2017-18 Vulcans are a mix of newcomers and returnees. Five letterwinners are back, including PacWest honorable mention guard Kim Schmelz, who averaged 14.6 points a game. Asia Smith, a 5-11 senior post is also back. She averaged 7.5 points and a robust 8.9 rebounds a contest, including a single-game high of 17 against Cal State Dominguez Hills. Six-foot junior center Patience Taylor returns, as does guard Amber Vaughn and 5-11 forward Jamaika Lorenzo. Taylor missed half of last season with an injury, but averaged almost six points a game and over four rebounds a contest. Vaughn played in 22 of UHH's 23 games, starting seven, and Lorenzo came off the bench 20 times.
 
Welcome to Hilo: Coach Kaneshiro has an impressive group of newcomers to work with, including four transfers and three freshmen. Senior Safia Sheikh comes to Hilo from BYU-Hawaii, which dropped its program last year. Sheikh was a third-team All-PacWest selection, averaging 15 points and nearly five rebounds a game. Other transfers include Kailani Jones (Allen CC), Alyssa Movchan (Cypress College) and Danielle Dacosta (Sierra College). Freshmen working their way into game action are Sara Shimizu, Malia Lee and Allie Navarette.
 
A Look Back: Last year the Vulcans went 8-12 in the Pacific West Conference and 8-15 overall. UH Hilo had a three-game winning streak in February at home, beating Fresno Pacific, BYU-Hawaii and Dixie State to sit at 8-9 in conference play, but dropped their final three games of the year on the road.
 
Silverswords and Royals: Chaminade is looking for victory number one when Hawaii Hilo comes to town on Saturday. The Silverswords (0-4) have a non-conference loss to Minnesota State-Mankato (82-62) and PacWest setbacks against Concordia (65-47), California Baptist (90-84) and Hawaii Pacific (88-62). 5-6 sophomore guard, Destiny Castro, the PacWest Freshman of the Year in 2016-17, is fifth in the conference in scoring at 19 points a game and leads the Silverswords in rebounding at 7.5. UH Hilo leads the all-time series vs. the Silverswords (21-6), but the two teams split games a year ago. This will be the first meeting between the Vulcans and Royals of Douglas College, located in British Columbia. The Royals are 4-2 and play in the Pacific Western Athletic Association, currently in a four-way tie for first place. 5-11 forward Nanaya Miki leads her team with 12 points and 8.3 rebounds a game.
 
Around the Loop: Dominican is the surprise early leader in the PacWest with a 3-0 record and they are 7-2 overall. Dixie State is the only other unbeaten team in conference play at 2-0 (6-3 overall), having dealt No. 12 nationally ranked Azusa Pacific (11-2) their first conference loss. In the west region, No. 6 nationally ranked and unbeaten Alaska Anchorage is first (9-0). PacWest teams in the top ten are APU (fourth), Point Loma is seventh (6-3), Dominican ninth and Hawaii Pacific is tenth (5-2).
 
 
Head Coach David Kaneshiro: Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro enters into his eighth season as the leader of the UHH program in 2017-18. In seven-plus seasons, he has a 61-71 record in the tough Pacific West Conference and is 77-100 overall. Prior to his appointment as the Vulcans leader, he was an assistant with the men's program for four seasons. He led UHH to winning seasons 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.