Vulcans travel to northern California for pack of games
 
Hawai`i Hilo (4-4/2-3 PWC) @ Fresno Pacific (7-10/5-4 PWC), Saturday, Jan. 13, 2:30 p.m. PT, Special Events Center, Fresno, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Notre Dame de Namur (7-8/4-3 PWC), Monday, Jan. 15, 5:30 p.m. PT, Walter Gleason Gymnasium, Belmont, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Holy Names (2-13/1-6 PWC), Thursday, Jan. 18, 5:30 p.m. PT, Tobin Gymnasium, Oakland, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Dominican (10-4/4-2 PWC), Saturday, Jan. 20, 2 p.m. PT, Conlan Events Center, San Rafael, Calif.
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com
 
Hilo Headlines: After a split of home games to open up the 2018 calendar year, the UH Hilo women's basketball team hits the road for four games in eight days in northern California. The Vulcans will get a rematch with Notre Dame de Namur, the first of a home-and-home series with Fresno Pacific and Dominican, and their only meeting of the year with Holy Names.
 
Splitting Hairs: UH Hilo dropped their 2018 opener to Notre Dame de Namur (67-54) and won an overtime thriller with Academy of Art (68-63) last weekend to stay at .500 overall (4-4) and move to 2-3 in the Pacific West Conference. The Vulcans couldn't ever close the gap against the Argonauts, who led from start to finish. Versus the Urban Knights, UHH senior Safia Sheikh stepped up with 13 of her team's final 16 points to lead the Vulcans to the win.
 
Safia was Sensational: 5-10 transfer Safia Sheikh (BYU-Hawaii) had just two points at the halftime break but was lights out in the second half against Academy of Art. She finished with 23 points on the night, 21 of them in the second half. She had five three-pointers, hit four of five free throw attempts, pulled down six rebounds and dished out three assists. She hit a trey with 1:45 left in overtime that would turn out to be the game winner, and also drained another shot as the shot clock expired with 15 seconds left to seal the win.
 
Other Knight Notes: Freshman Allie Navarette was key in the victory as well. She had a career-high 22 points and also pulled down nine rebounds. Junior forward Danielle Dacosta was a perfect four-for-four from the free throw line and had 12 points, ten of those in the first half. The Sierra College transfer had 14 points two nights previous against NDNU.
 
By the Numbers: Senior transfer Safia Sheikh (BYU-Hawaii) leads the Vulcans with 15.4 points a game and also leads her team in three-pointers made (28). The Denmark native is also third in rebounds (6.0). Freshman Allie Navarette is in double figures with 12.0 points a contest and 6.9 rebounds. Sara Shimizu leads the squad with 21 assists in eight games.
 
Taking Advantage of Charity: The Vulcans are shooting 72 percent from the free throw line, with Safia Sheikh canning 86 percent (19-for-22) and Allie Navarette (31-for-38) next at .816.
 
PacWest Pace Setters: The Vulcans lead the PacWest in defense, allowing 61.3 points per game. They are fourth in the conference in three-point accuracy (.333), fourth in free throw percentage (.721) and second in three-point percentage defense (.277). Allie Navarette is third in free throw percentage at .816 (Sheikh doesn't have enough attempts to qualify) and Safia Sheikh paces the league in three-pointers made per contest at 3.5 (28 total). Sheikh is third in three-point percentage at .373.
 
Missing Pieces: Junior guard Kim Schmelz, last year's leading scorer, played in the first two games of the season but has now missed the last six because of injury. She is expected to miss the entire season, but can likely recoup her junior season as a medical red-shirt. Senior guard Amber Vaughn missed the last two games with an injury and her status for the rest of the season is not known at this time. Last year's leading rebounder Asia Smith (8.9) has left the team.
 
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.
 
Facts about Fresno: The Sunbirds, 5-4 in the PacWest, are coming off a big win over Point Loma (81-69) to kick off a four-game homestand. Fresno Pacific has now won three of its last five contests, with the only two losses coming to conference leader Azusa Pacific and Concordia. 5-11 sophomore forward Cassie Pisik is FPU's leader scorer (12.9) and rebounder (7.1). UH Hilo won the lone match-up between the two teams a year ago in Hilo (62-54), and the Vulcans lead the all-time series, 5-2.
 
Argonaut Article: Notre Dame de Namur won two of three games on the islands last week, including the January 3 match-up against the Vulcans, to improve to 4-3 in conference play. The Argonauts have one of the top scorers in the league in 6-0 junior Jerusha Paine, who averages 16.8 points a game. Paine had 37 points earlier this season against Chico State, had 27 versus the Vulcans, and dropped in 25 each against No. 2 Alaska Anchorage and Cal State Monterey Bay. NDNU has conference wins over Fresno Pacific (86-82), Academy of Art (84-81, OT), UH Hilo (67-54 and Chaminade (77-55), and losses to Azusa Pacific (98-60), Dominican (85-71) and Hawaii Pacific (95-59). UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 12-8.
 
Hawk Highlights: Holy Names went 1-1 last week in Hawaii, falling to HPU but picking up their first conference win of the year with a 78-74 victory over Chaminade. Taylor Krause (22) and Onjalise Carley-Hilliard (20) had career high point totals in the win. Carley-Hilliard, a 6-0 sophomore forward, leads the Hawks with an 11.2 scoring average. HMU snapped a 13-game losing streak with the victory over the Silverswords. The Vulcans won two close contests versus Holy Names last year, just clipping the Hawks in Hilo (62-61) and winning in Oakland by a couple of baskets (53-48). UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 7-1.
 
Penguin Platter: Just a little over a week ago, Dominican was sitting atop the PacWest standings with a 4-0 record and a 10-2 overall mark. But a trio of losses to California Baptist (94-76), Dixie State (93-79) and Academy of Art (83-78) dropped the Penguins back to 4-3. Dominican has been tough at home (4-0), where they will begin a three-game stand on Jan. 13 against Chaminade. The Penguins have the top two scorers in the league in Natalie Diaz (24.5) and Sandra Ikeora (21.8). Ikeora, a 5-11 senior who was named the PacWest Pre-Season Player of the Year, also leads the conference in rebounding (14.8). Diaz, a 5-11 junior, is fourth in the PWC on board work with 9.6 a contest. Dominican won both games versus the Vulcans last year, and the Penguins lead the all-time series, 9-7.
 
Around the Loop: No. 23 nationally ranked Azusa Pacific is the leader in the Pacific West Conference with a 7-1 mark, 16-2 overall. They have won five in a row. Hawai`i Pacific is right behind the Cougars at 5-1, 11-2 on the season. The Sharks have won seven games in a row….Point Loma and Hawai`i Pacific will be featured this Saturday on ESPN3, at 2 pm Pacific time in San Diego…No. 5 nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage (13-1) sits atop the D2SIDA West Region poll, with UC San Diego (13-2) second, Azusa Pacific third. Hawaii Pacific is sixth and Dominican ninth.
 
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 62-73 record in the tough Pacific West Conference and is 79-102 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.