HILO, Hawai`i—Bree Alvarez scored a season-high 27 points to help lead visiting Fresno Pacific to an 83-64 women's basketball win over Hawai`i Hilo on Monday night at the UH Hilo Gymnasium.
It was the sixth win of the year for the Sunbirds (6-2), and they improved to 2-1 in the Pacific West Conference. The Vulcans fell to 2-3 on the year and to 0-3 in the PacWest.
UH Hilo's
Allie Navarette equaled Alvarez's output with 27 points and
Mandi Kawaha added 22 points before fouling out late in the game.
The Vulcans got off to a good start, leading midway through the first quarter (11-9) after a Kawaha basket. But the Sunbirds went on a 10-0 run and as it turned out would never trail again. FPU led 23-16 at the end of the quarter, with Navarette (10 points) and Kawawa (six) accounting for all of the Vulcan points.
The Sunbirds started the second quarter on an 8-0 run and would eventually take a 44-29 lead into the halftime locker room. Alvarez had 16 at the break.
Fresno Pacific would roll out to their largest lead of the night just a few minutes into the third quarter at 23 points. Their margin would be 20 points (66-46) heading into the fourth period.
While the game looked in the bag, the Vulcans made it interesting in the fourth. UH Hilo outscored the Sunbirds 15-6 over a stretch, thanks to three-pointers from Kawahi and deadly marksmanship from Navarette from the free throw line. They cut the lead to 71-61 on Navarette charity tosses, but they would get no closer than that as the Sunbirds answered with a 6-0 run and stopped the Vulcans on three straight offensive possessions.
Navarette hit 13-of-15 free throws and hit half of her shots from the floor (7-of-14). She had a double-double, pulling down 12 rebounds. Kawaha had seven boards to go with her 22 points and a pair of assists.
Alvarez dished out seven assists to go with her 27 points. Ashley Cross had 15 points, and Cassie Pisik had 14 points and 16 rebounds in a huge effort for the Sunbirds.
The Vulcans will now take a couple weeks off for final exams, returning to the court on Dec. 17 against Holy Names. Start time will be 5 p.m. at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
