This Week in Vulcan Women's Basketball
Record: 1-6 (0-4 PWC)

UHH to host basketball power Seawolves                                                                                                 
Sunday, Dec. 22 vs. Alaska Anchorage (9-1), 1 pm, Civic Auditorium

Visiting Seawolves Add to Tough Slate: UH Hilo's insanely difficult early season schedule continues with another nationally ranked opponent this Sunday at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo. No. 13 nationally ranked (No. 2 west region) Alaska Anchorage visits, with an afternoon tip set for 1 pm.
 
They Just Keep Coming: Alaska Anchorage will be the fourth nationally ranked opponent that the Vulcans will face in their first eight games. In fact, not counting the Seawolves, who are 9-1 with two more games on their schedule before they arrive in Hilo, the Vulcans D-II opponents thus far are a combined 44-15 on the year. That list includes Sioux Falls (9-2), Minnesota State-Moorhead (9-3), Azusa Pacific (8-2), Concordia (3-3), Biola (7-3), and Point Loma (8-2).

SoCal Trip No Vacation: The Vulcans dropped all three of their games in southern California last week, falling to Concordia (72-42), Biola (61-34) and Point Loma (78-46). All three of those opponents were unbeaten in PacWest play at the time (Point Loma later defeated Biola).
 
A Look at the Numbers: Allie Navarette was close to a double-double in all three games, and had one in the trip finale at Point Loma (18 points, 10 rebounds). She currently leads the Vulcans with 13 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. She is converting .841 of her free throw attempts and has three double-doubles on the season. Kim Schmelz had 14 points against Azusa Pacific and is just under 10 points a game at 9.7, with Mandi Kawaha next at 7.1, Sara Shimizu 6.7 and Chyann Gabriel at 5.1. Schmelz has 12 three-pointers (Shimizu has 10), with Malia Lee second on the team in rebounds (4.4). Kawaha leads the squad with 17 assists and 14 steals.
 
PacWest Numbers: Allie Navarette has worked her way on to a number of Top 10 lists in the PacWest stat columns—Rebounds (7.6) 5^th, Free Throw Percentage (.841) 4^th, Blocked Shots (0.7) 9^th. Mandi Kawaha is seventh in steals (2.0).

Anchorage is Awesome: A perennial west region and national power visits the Big Island on Sunday in the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. The No. 13 nationally ranked squad will take a 9-1 record to Honolulu to face Menlo and Northwest Missouri State before arriving in Hilo. The Seawolves have been to the NCAA tournament the past six seasons, playing for the national championship in 2015-16. They were 30-3 a year ago (Sweet 16) and are 199-35 over the past seven+ years under head coach Ryan McCarthy. This year, their only loss was on the road in Florida at Lynn (53-52). In their ten games, their average margin of victory is 27 points. 5-foot-6 senior guard Safiyyah Yasin leads a balanced offensive attack with 14.4 points a game, shooting .421 from three-point range. 6-foot junior Tennae Voliva adds near double-double numbers with 11 points and 9.1 rebounds. The Vulcans and Seawolves have met eight previous times, with UAA holding an all-time 8-0 advantage. UAA won in Hilo last year, 71-60.

What's Next: The Vulcans will take the mandatory seven days off (NCAA D-II) and then return to Hilo to kick off a string of PacWest games at home. UH Hilo will play five straight games at the Civic Auditorium, beginning with a January 2 clash versus Fresno Pacific.
 
Around the PacWest: Hawaii Pacific and Point Loma are your early co-leaders, both with 4-0 marks in conference play. Fresno Pacific is also unbeaten at 3-0, as is Concordia (1-0).
 
Rating the West: The D2SIDA West Region poll released earlier this week looks like this (records are through last weekend)—(1) Hawaii Pacific 8-1, (2) Alaska Anchorage 9-1, (3) Cal State San Marcos 8-1, (4) UC San Diego 6-2, (5) Azusa Pacific 7-2, (6) Point Loma 8-2, (7) Humboldt State 8-3, (T8) Cal State East Bay 9-3, (T8) Central Washington 6-3, (T10) Northwest Nazarene 7-3, (T10) Western Washington 5-3. Nationally, Hawaii Pacific is tenth, Alaska Anchorage 13^th and Cal State San Marcos is 16^th.

Paper Trail: The Vulcans, with returning First Team All-PacWest pick Allie Navarette back, along with 2016-17 HM All-PacWest Kim Schmelz returning from injury, look much better on paper than last season. Mandi Kawaha, second on the team in scoring as a freshman, is back to run the point, and returning starter Sara Shimizu can shoot from long range. Mikayla Tablit, who sat out last season with a knee injury, returns to add depth at guard, and inside players Chyann Gabriel and Malia Lee give the Vulcans experience in the paint. Freshman Jenna Waki has already been valuable at guard, averaging over 26 minutes a game.

PacWest Poll: Despite definitely looking better on paper, the Vulcans didn't get much love in the Pacific West Conference Preseason poll, which looked like this. (1) Azusa Pacific, (2) Hawaii Pacific, (3) Point Loma, (4) Fresno Pacific, (5) Dominican, (6) Concordia (7), Biola, (8) Academy of Art, (9) Chaminade, (10) Hawaii Hilo, (11) Holy Names, (12) Notre Dame de Namur.

Last Year: The Vulcans finished 8-18 overall and 5-17 in the PacWest. Allie Navarette earned First Team All-PacWest honors and Second All-West Region laurels while averaging a school-record 19.8 points and 10.1 rebounds a game.

The Coach: Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro begins his tenth season leading the Vulcan program. He previously spent four years as an assistant coach with the men's team at UHH, and has been the women's head coach at Blackburn and Webster. He also was an assistant at Stanislaus State.