HILO, Hawai`i—Sydney Mercer scored a game-high 22 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, and her teammates made two impressive defensive stops late in the game to lead Hawaii Hilo to a 62-54 win over Fresno Pacific on Thursday night at Vulcan Gymnasium.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the home team, allowing them to improve to 6-9 in the Pacific West Conference and 6-12 overall. Fresno Pacific fell to 5-18 on the year and to 2-13 in conference play.

Mercer had 10 rebounds to go with her 22 points. She hit 9-of-16 shots from the field.

UHH led for the entire fourth quarter, but not by a lot. They held a 54-53 advantage with 2:43 to go after a three-point play by FPU's Abrina Salas. Then Kim Schmelz, who would finish with 14 points and four assists, banked home a 10-footer to put UHH up 56-53. In the final minute and a half, Mercer would hit two free throws and a short jumper, while the defense twice pushed the Sunbirds to the limit of the 30-second clock and forced desperation shots.

"Our defense showed a lot of heart in the fourth quarter," head coach David Kaneshiro said. "Defense is about hard work and energy, and we had both. I credit that to the whole team, as the bench also was completely into the game and encouraging those on the floor."

It was a game that neither team would let the other get too far out of sight.

The Vulcans led for most of the first quarter, and then broke a 13-13 tie with a six-point run to the buzzer. Free throws by Asia Smith and baskets by Sharlei Graham-Bernisto and Schmelz gave the home team a 19-13 lead at the end of the first period.

UHH never trailed in the second quarter either, charging into the locker room with a 32-25 margin on the scoreboard. Mercer had 12 points at intermission, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field.

But things turned quickly in the third quarter. The Sunbirds scored the first 10 points of the period, and it only took them three minutes to do so. Six of those points came from back-to-back treys by Bree Alvarez. Lauren Hong answered with her own three-ball to stop the 10-0 run, and Schmelz bombed one in as well.

Before the quarter was over, Alvarez had lobbed in another three, and so had Schmelz. Both teams had three treys each in the period, but UHH took a 47-42 lead into the final ten minutes of play.

That's where the Vulcans synched up the defense, holding Alvarez scoreless in the fourth quarter. She would still lead the Sunbirds in scoring with 18 points, hitting 4-of-6 three-point attempts. For UHH, Asia Smith pulled down 11 rebounds, and Graham-Bernisto had eight points.

The Vulcans will host BYU-Hawaii on Saturday night at the Civic, start time is 5 p.m. It's the annual Play4Kay night. All fans wearing pink will be admitted for free.