BOX SCORE
(Photo by Andrew Lee of Hawaii Media Source)
UPDATED WITH QUOTES FROM HC DAVE KANESHIRO

HONOLULU--A second quarter blitz and a halftime lead were were huge highlights for the Hawaii Hilo women's basketball team in their return to the court on Sunday afternoon against sister school Hawaii.

The Vulcans lost the game, 71-54, in what amounts to an exhibition for them and a counting game for the Rainbow Wahine (1-1). It was the first practice game or scrimmage for the Vulcans during a bizarre COVID preseason. They will now break for Christmas, returning to Hilo in January for to prepare for a shortened Pacific West Conference schedule.

Mandi Kawaha led all scorers with 23 points and also led the Vulcans with six rebounds. Senior guard Sara Shimizu added nine points (all on three-pointers in the second quarter), and she also had four assists and three steals. Jenna Waki had eight points.

Deejah Phillips led the Rainbow Wahine with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

"I am thankful to the opportunity to play this game," said Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro. "I know that our players were excited about the chance to play. I thought we did some good things offensively in the first half, especially considering it was the first game. It was nice to see some of those shots go down in the second quarter."

UH Hilo led at halftime (33-32), but the game started out much differently.
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As could be expected, the Vulcans started out stone cold in their first game action in nearly 10 months. They missed their first seven shots in their first seven possessions, with no offensive rebounds against the much taller Rainbow Wahine. The visitors ended the quarter without a three-pointer (0-for-6), were 4-for-16 from the field and trailed 17-9. 

But the second quarter was a completely different story. The Vulcans opened the stanza with a trey from Shimizu, a 15-footer from Kawaha and another long bomb from Shimizu, and just like that it was a two-point game with 6:35 remaining in the half (19-17). Two minutes later Shimizu nailed another trey to cut the margin to one (23-22).

In the final two minutes of the half, Kawaha drained a pair of three's and then dished to Mikayla Tablit for another trey, giving UH Hilo their first lead of the contest, 33-32. That's where the half ended, with the Vulcans outscoring their sister hosts, 24-15 in the period. The Vulcans hit six-of-nine three's in the 10-minute span, and Kawaha went to the locker room with 15 points.

In the third quarter, after a Malia Lee trey, the Vulcans still led 36-34. But Hawaii started to roll, going on a 10-3 run in the first four minutes of the period to take a 42-36 margin. The home team wouldn't trail again, outscoring the Vulcans 22-9 in the third to take a 54-42 lead into the final quarter. The would add to their lead in the fourth before settling for the 71-54 final.

UHH hit nine of 25 three-point attempts and had only nine turnovers in the game. That helped offset a huge Rainbow Wahine rebound advantage (56-20) for a team that had three players well over six feet tall. The Vulcans tallest player is Lee at 5-10. 

UH Hilo's schedule in the Hawaii pod will be announced this week. They are expected to play their first conference game in mid-January.

"I know there are a lot of things to work on but right now I am just thankful that our players got to play in a game," Kaneshiro added. "Hopefully we will be able to continue into the new year."