Box Score HILO, Hawai`i—Jerusha Paine had 25 points and her Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts led from start to finish during a 67-54 women's basketball win on Wednesday night over Hawai`i Hilo at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The victory in the first game of the calendar year for both teams moved NDNU's record in the Pacific West Conference to 3-2, and they are now 6-7 overall. The Vulcans dropped to 2-2 in conference play and 3-4 on the season.

Paine, a 6-0 junior post, had a double-double with the 25 points and 11 rebounds.  She hit 10 of 15 shots from the field and 5 of 7 from the free throw line.

Danielle Dacosta led the Vulcans with 14 points, and she was joined in double figures by Sara Shimizu (12) and Safia Sheikh (11).

The Argonauts put the pressure on early in the first quarter. In the first three and a half minutes, they sped out to a 11-2 lead, in part courtesy of Paine who had six points. At the first media timeout, the Argos led 14-4, with no turnovers while shooting 50 percent from the floor. By the time the quarter had ended, NDNU had a 20-9 margin and Paine had eight points. The Vulcans' top two scorers on the season, Sheikh and Allie Navarette, had yet to score.

But the Vulcans answered in the second period. After trailing by as many as 13 points (26-13), UH Hilo went on a 10-0 run to cut the margin to three (26-23). Sheikh had a trey during that run and Alyssa Movchan had five points. Before the quarter was over, Dacosta had pulled the home team to within two points on a three-pointer, making the count 30-28 at the break.

Paine went back to work in the third quarter. She 11 points during the 10-minute period, including a conventional three-point play with 2:21 left to push the Argo lead back to 12 points. They would hold that margin at 51-39 heading into the final stanza.

The Argonauts would increase their lead in the final quarter, pushing the Vulcan deficit to 20 points on a basket by Marissa Caballero with 2:30 remaining. They would settle for the final margin of 13 points.

NDNU shot 50 percent from the field on the night and out-rebounded the home team, 40-27.

The Vulcans played the game without two of their guards—Kim Schmelz, last year's leading scorer who is out of the season, and Amber Vaughn, who was hurt in the Dec. 19 game against Douglas.

The Vulcans will return to the Civic on Friday night, hosting Academy of Art. Start time is 5 p.m.