Women's Basketball Weekly
Hawai`i Hilo Overall Record: 4-10     Hawai`i Hilo PacWest Record: 1-9
 
Vulcans Return to Northern California for Pair of Games                                                  
Thursday, Jan. 24 @ Holy Names (1-18/1-12 PWC), 5:30 p.m. PT, Oakland, Calif.
Saturday, Jan. 26 @ Notre Dame de Namur (4-11/3-8 PWC), 1 p.m. PT, Belmont, Calif.
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com

Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans dropped a trio of games at home last week, falling to Hawai`i Pacific (65-49), Concordia (76-63), and Point Loma (66-50). Up next is a rematch on the road with Holy Names, and the first meeting of the year with Notre Dame de Namur.
 
Needing 40: In all three games, the Vulcans played their opponents even or better for at least half the game, if not for three quarters. UH Hilo led Point Loma at the end of the first quarter (20-19), and only trailed at the half, 36-33. Against the Eagles, one bad quarter allowed Concordia to pull away, and versus the defending PacWest champion Sharks, UHH played the second half even but dug a hole too big to climb out of in the first 20 minutes.
 
Eight is Enough: The Vulcans still aren't close to full strength, with guards Kim Schmelz and Mikayla Tablit sidelined and post Chyann Gabriel now on the shelf as well. Head Coach Dave Kaneshiro will again have just eight players in uniform on this trip to Northern California.
 
Allie's Averages: Sophomore post Allie Navarette has scored in double figures every game except one (9 at Dominican), including posting a career-high 27 points against Chaminade and Fresno Pacific. She has seven double-doubles on the year, including two this past week against Concordia (25/14) and Point Loma (26/13). The Torrance, Calif. native ranks third in the PacWest in scoring (19.1) and leads the league in rebounding (9.9). Additionally, she is seventh in the PWC in field goal percentage (.406) and is fourth in free throw accuracy (.802).
 
Allie and Charity: After a slow start this year at the free throw line, Allie Navarette has found her stroke. After setting a Vulcan single-season record last year at .842, Navarette was around 75 percent a few weeks back, but has caught fire again lately. She nailed 31-of-34 attempts last week (91 percent) to raise her average back over 80 percent.
 
By the Numbers: Freshman Mandi Kawaha is second in scoring at 9.7 and leads the Vulcans in assists with 51…Alyssa Movchan averages 8.4 points and leads her team from three-point range with 23 (.343)…Senior Patience Taylor had a career-high 15 points against Concordia and is averaging 5.9 points and 3.1 boards…Freshman Maddie Beck had a career-best 11 points against the Eagles and adds 4.9 points a contest.
 
Around the Loop: Conference favorite Azusa Pacific is still unbeaten in PacWest play at 12-0 (15-3 overall), holding a 1.5 game lead over Dominican (10-1). Hawaii Pacific is another half-game back at 9-1, with Fresno Pacific breathing down the Sharks' neck at 8-3.
 
Regional Rankings: The unofficial D2SIDA West Region rankings for Jan. 22 look like this: (1) Northwest Nazarene 16-0, (2) UC San Diego 15-0, (3) Alaska Anchorage 15-1, (4) Cal Poly Pomona 14-2, (5) Azusa Pacific 15-3, (6) Dominican 13-2, (7) Central Washington 11-4, (8) Cal State San Marcos 10-5, (9) Chico State 11-4, (10) Humboldt State 10-5. Nationally, Northwest Nazarene is No. 1, UC San Diego is No. 5, Alaska Anchorage is No. 15 and Cal Poly Pomona is No. 24.

A Look Back: The Vulcans suffered through an injury-plagued year to finish 7-16 overall and 5-15 in the Pacific West Conference.
 
She's Back! And So is She, and She: One big bright spot last season was the play of freshman post, Allie Navarette. The 6-footer earned honorable mention All-PacWest honors, averaging a school-record 16.7 points a game. Her 383 points was also a Vulcan single-season record, as was her free throw percentage of .842. Also returning are the backcourt tandem of Alyssa Movchan and Sara Schimizu, who started 39 games between them last year. 6-0 senior Patience Taylor started 17 games last year and guard Amber Vaughn started five before her season ended with an injury. Still injured is 2016-17 PacWest honorable mention pick Kim Schmelz and freshman Mikayla Tablit (Konawaena HS).

PacWest Prognosticators: The PacWest coaches predicted Azusa Pacific to win the conference this year, with defending champ Hawai`i Pacific slated to take second. The Vulcans clock in at ninth.
 
Hawk Headlines: The Vulcans take on Holy Names on Thursday (Jan. 24), a team that they defeated on Dec. 17 (72-56). The Hawks had just beaten Chaminade for their only win of the season thus far, and the loss to the Vulcans started a nine-game skid. Ariana Hernandez leads the Hawks at 14.2 points a game, and she has over 100 career three-pointers. Anjalise Carley-Hilliard adds 13.9 points a contest and Gernijah Martin lists fourth in the PacWest with 8.9 rebounds a game. With UH Hilo's win over the Hawks in December, the Vulcans now lead the all-time series, 9-1.
 
Argonaut Article: Notre Dame de Namur has won two of their last four games, defeating Holy Names (64-59) and Chaminade (65-49). The Argo's lost by just three to Biola and by eight to Point Loma earlier this month. They have been good at home (3-3). They have a balanced attack on offense, paced by 5-8 senior guard Anaya Rodisha at 11.8 ppg. NDNU is fifth in the league in defense, allowing just 64.7 points a game. The Vulcans and Argo's split games in 2017-18, and UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 13-8.
 
Free, Free, Free!!: From here on and forever more, all UH Hilo and Hawaii Community College students will receive free admission to all Vulcan home events. Just show your student ID, and you are in!! Same is true for faculty and staff.
 
Watch, Listen: All Vulcan home women's basketball games are available via video stream (and Live Stats). Improved coverage, which includes audio play-by-play, through Out of the Sea Media on the Vulcan website.
 
Head Coach David Kaneshiro: Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro enters into his ninth season as the leader of the UHH program in 2018-19. 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.