BELMONT, Calif.—Freshman center Allie Navarette hit 11 of 12 free throw attempts in the final 42 seconds of the game to help the UH Hilo women's basketball team hold off host Notre Dame de Namur on Monday night at the Walter Gleason Gymnasium, 81-76.

The Vulcans, who lost to the Argonauts by 13 points (67-54) less than two weeks ago in Hilo, improved to 5-5 on the season with the win and to 3-4 in the Pacific West Conference. Notre Dame de Namur, who came into the game tied for fourth in the PacWest, dropped to 5-4 in conference play and to 8-9 overall.

Navarette finished with a career-high 26 points, hitting 16 of 18 free throws on the night. She hit ten straight free throws during NDNU's "hack a shack" routine in the final 42 seconds before finally missing one.

Sara Shimizu also had a Vulcan career-best, potting 15 points, hitting three-of-four treys and five-of-seven from the field. She also had seven rebounds. Safia Sheikh added 14 points, Danielle Dacosta added 11 and Alyssa Movchan was the fifth Vulcan in double figures with 10. Navarette had seven rebounds, while Dacosta and Sheikh had six boards each.

The Vulcans, who were blitzed in the opening moments on Saturday night and never recovered at Fresno Pacific, learned from the experience and did something similar to the Argonauts. UH Hilo's first three baskets were three-pointers by Sheikh, Kalani Jones and Dacosta. After Movchan became the fourth Vulcan to hit a trey in the first quarter, UH Hilo led 16-10. They would push the lead to 18-10 on a Navarette basket and eventually lead at the end of the period, 22—16.

Dacosta would hit a long ball to start the second quarter and Movchan would soon add another for a 27-18 lead. Sheikh drained a three-pointer with 3:49 left in the half to give the Vulcans a 32-21 lead and Shimizu joined the three-ball party with 2:07 left to give the Vulcans a 14-point margin (35-21).

The Vulcans were 7-of-11 from beyond the arch in the first half, with five different players connecting. Shimizu had 10 points as UH Hilo lead at the break, 37-24.

Another Sheikh trey gave the visitors a 42-28 lead two minutes into the third quarter, but the Argonauts would soon go on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to just four points (44-40) with four minutes left in the period. The Vulcans answered with an 8-3 run to close out the quarter, leading 52-43 heading into the final ten minutes.

The fourth quarter would get wild. Shimizu opened the period with a basket to give the Vulcans a 54-43 lead four seconds into the action, but NDNU reacted with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to two (54-52) after free throws by Marissa Caballero.

The Vulcans then answered with a basket by Movchan and a three-pointer by Dacosta, but the Argonauts would not go away. Back-to-back steals cut the margin to two points again (64-62). With just over a minute left, the Vulcans still led by just two at 66-64.

After a NDNU miss, the Argonauts began fouling. For reasons not known, they continued to foul Navarette, who came into the game shooting 84 percent from the free throw line.  Still, two three-pointers in the final 12 seconds by NDNU's Sydney Chase kept the contest in doubt before Navarette hit the final charity toss with three seconds left to seal the game.

Caballero led the Argonauts with 21 points. Jerusha Paine, who had 25 points against the Vulcans on January 3, added 15 tonight.

UH Hilo hit 9-of-16 trey attempts in the game and converted 20-of-26 free throw attempts.

The Vulcans will play the third game of this four-game swing in northern California with a Thursday game at Holy Names.  Start time is 5:30 p.m. Pacific (3:30 in Hawaii).