UH Hilo Women Wrap Up Season At Home Against Island Schools
 
Hawai`i Hilo (6-15/4-14 PWC) vs. Chaminade (2-18/2-16 PWC), Thursday, Feb. 22, 5 p.m., Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, Hilo, Hawai`i.
Hawai`i Hilo vs. Hawai`i Pacific (23-2/17-1 PWC), Saturday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m., Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, Hilo, Hawai`i.
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com

Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans will wrap up the 2017-18 season with a pair of home games on Thursday and Saturday against their island counterparts. In Chaminade and Hawai`i Pacific they will get teams on opposite paths. The Sharks are in first place in the PacWest, with a 19-game winning streak. The Silverswords hold up the other end of the standings, looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
 
Travel Troubles: UH Hilo is happy to get off the road, where they just played five games in eight days. The Vulcans lost all five, with the highlight coming in the trip finale against playoff contender Point Loma. The Vulcans were within just a few points of the Sea Lions the whole afternoon, but PLNU pulled away in the final two minutes to win, 61-56.
 
Seven Strong, Sometimes Eight: Coach David Kaneshiro's team has played the last 11 games with just seven available players, and for a few games, eight. Gone for the season are guards Kim Schmelz and Amber Vaughn, and sharp-shooting senior Safia Sheikh missed all but two of those games as well (illness). Sheikh played in two games on the road trip.
 
Senior Salute: UH Hilo will salute a pair of players after Saturday night's game with Hawai`i Pacific. Senior transfer Safia Sheikh and senior walk-on guard Kailani Jones will be playing their final collegiate games against the Sharks. Sheikh, a Denmark native who transferred to UH Hilo from BYU-Hawaii, averaged 12.8 points and five rebounds a game for the Vulcans this season. She is one of the top shooters in the PacWest, hitting nearly three three-pointers a game and converting 89 percent of her free throw opportunities (25-for-28). Jones has played in 20 of UH Hilo's 21 games, and is fifth on the team in three-pointers made, shooting 41 percent from long range (tops on the team). The Kamuela, Hawai`i native played two seasons at Allen JC in Kansas before coming back to Hawai`i.
 
Navarette Numbers: Freshman inside player Allie Navarette continues to put up big numbers for a freshman, and for any class for that matter. On the five-game trip, she averaged 18 points and eight rebounds. She had 25 points and a season-best 15 rebounds at Dixie State, and had another double-double (in In-N-Out territory) at Azusa Pacific with 21 points and 14 boards. She has scored over 20 points in nine games this year. She had converted 87 percent of her free throw opportunities and is averaging almost one blocked shot per game.
 
Straight Shooters: The Vulcans continue to take advantage of their free throw opportunities, swishing 74 percent of their shots, second best in the PacWest. Allie Navarette leads a solid list at .870.

By the Numbers: Southern California native (Torrance) Allie Navarette leads the Vulcans in scoring at 16.4 points per game and rebounding (7.5). Senior Safia Sheikh adds 12.8 points a contest and paces the Vuls in three-pointers made (38). Her free throw percentage is .893 (she doesn't have enough attempts to qualify for the PacWest leaderboard). Danielle Dacosta adds 9.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and is shooting 39 percent from three-point range. Sara Shimizu leads UH Hilo in assists with 56, with Alyssa Movchan next at 51.
 
PacWest Pace Setters: Allie Navarette is now the PacWest leader in free throw percentage (.870), having hit 114 of 131 shots. Navarette is also sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (.444) and sixth in scoring (16.4). Safia Sheikh is still second in three-pointers made per game (2.7) and third in trey percentage (.358).
 
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.
 
Silversword Sentences: Chaminade took down the Vulcans back in December, overtaking their visitors in the final two minutes for a 69-66 win. Destiny Castro had 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Silverswords in that one, and she currently ranks fifth in the PacWest in scoring at 16.9 points a game, and is seventh in rebounding at 8.7. But since that win in Oahu in December, the Silverswords have won just one game, a 66-52 victory over Dixie State. Even with that loss, the Vulcans still lead the all-time series between the two teams, 21-7.
 
Sensational Sharks: There might not be a hotter basketball team in the country right now than the Hawai`i Pacific Sharks. Leading the PacWest and holding a 19-game winning streak, they haven't lost since Dec. 9 to Concordia (62-57). Their only other loss this year was in their season opener to Alaska Anchorage. Currently ranked No. 21 in the latest national poll, the Sharks have a big match-up with the region's No. 1 team on Thursday, Azusa Pacific. With four players averaging just over ten points a game, the Sharks hang their hats on defense, topping the PacWest with a 61.5 game average. HPU won a Feb. 6 match-up in Honolulu against UHH, and the Sharks lead the all-time series, 25-3.
 
Around the Loop: Hawaii Pacific has a one-game lead over Azusa Pacific in the PacWest standings, and the two teams meet for a massive match-up on Thursday. APU got the call though as the west region's top team in the first official poll of the season, with Alaska Anchorage second and HPU third. Point Loma is ninth, one spot out of playoff contention, with two more polls remaining.
 
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 64-84 record in the tough Pacific West Conference and is 81-113 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.