Vulcans, Now 2-2, Head to Oahu to Take on No. 3 Sharks
Saturday, Feb. 6 @ Hawai`i Pacific (3-0), Noon, The Shark Tank (St. Francis)
Sunday, Feb. 7 @ Hawai`i Pacific, Noon, The Shark Tank (St. Francis)

2-2 Vulcans Travel to Take on Hungry Sharks: After two impressive and nearly identical victories over host Chaminade, the Hawaii Hilo women's basketball team heads right back to Oahu to take on No. 3 nationally ranked (and No. 1 in the region) Hawai`i Pacific. After turning in  56-39 and 57-38 wins over the Silverswords, UH Hilo now takes on a hungry Shark team that hasn't played since their January 16-17 games against the Vulcans. An HPU-Chaminade twinbill a couple of weeks ago was postponed, leaving the 3-0 Sharks hungry for action.

Vulcans on Video: No fans are allowed inside the Shark Tank, but you can watch the live stream video. Go to https://hiloathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule for the link.

Solving the Silverswords: For one weekend at least, the Vulcans had every answer to the Chaminade Silverswords at McCabe Gymnasium (Jan. 30-31).  UH Hilo posted 17 and 19 point wins, holding the Silverswords to under 40 points each afternoon. UHH overcame poor shooting on Saturday (39 percent) with clamp-down defense, allowing just a 25 percent success rate for the home team. It was more of the same on Sunday with UHH limiting Chaminade to 22 percent shooting (3-of-29 from behind the arch) and managing to get four players in double figures on offense for the win. 

Balanced Basketball: UH HIlo had three players in double figures on Saturday and four on Sunday in a weekend of balance. Bree Olson had a career-high 12 boards on Sunday to go with ten points for her first double-double as a Vulcan. Mandi Kawaha (11 and 13 points) and Kim Schmelz (14 and 11 points) were in double figures each day. Sophomore Jenna Waki had the best weekend of her career, leading her to the honor of the PacWest Hawaii Pod Player of the Week. She had a total of 23 points and 13 rebounds in the two games to earn the certificate.

Coach Kaneshiro on Back-to-Back Wins: "It was nice to get two road wins. We didn't shoot the ball well in either game but I thought we improved from the first game to the second.  I thought our defensive positioning was better in our second game. Our offensive movement and flow was better on the second day as well, we just need to finish more of those possessions with baskets."  

Hawaii Pacific Post: The defending PacWest champions are 3-0 but rusty after sitting (and practicing) for three weeks since their last wins over Hawaii Hilo. The Sharks opened the year with a win over Division I Hawaii (82-74) and then topped the Vulcans twice in Hilo, 69-46 and 69-56. The Sharks are coming off of a school-record 29-1 season, and were surely a national title contender had COVID-19 not stopped their season. Currently, they are No. 1 again in the west and No. 3 in the nation. First Team All-American and West Region Player of the Year Amy Baum (12.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg and 6.2 apg) is back, along with All-PacWest guard Alysha Marcucci (11.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg). Ally Bates was another All-PacWest pick (10.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg). The Sharks lead the all-time series against the Vulcans, 32-3.

Coach K on facing the Sharks Again: "Our prep will be similar to how we got ready for the first games against them. They are very good and don't have a lot of weaknesses so we will have to execute well on both ends of the court. Our team is excited and looking forward to the challenge of playing them again."

Regional Rankings: Hawaii Pacific received all six first place votes to remain on top of the writers' D2SIDA West Region poll. HPU (3-0) is followed by Concordia (4-2), Point Loma (4-1), Azusa Pacific (2-2), Seattle Pacific (4-3) and Saint Martin's (2-3). Fresno Pacific (2-2)  was among those receiving votes. Ten of the 11 teams in the Pacific West Conference are playing this season (Holy Names opted out), while three squads in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference are playing a schedule against each other and local NAIA and Division III teams.

Around the Loop: Point Loma took a pair from Biola last week and Concordia did the same to Azusa Pacific. Dominican and Fresno Pacific had to cancel. This week, Point Loma (3-1) and APU (2-2) square off for two, as does Biola (0-4) and Concordia (3-1), along with Fresno Pacific (2-0) and Academy of Art (0-0).

Veteran Vulcans: Head coach David Kaneshiro, entering his 11^th season, has six letterwinners and five returning starters to send out to the floor. That includes Super Senior Kim Schmelz, who enters into her fifth year in a Vulcan uniform. She played in just two games in 2017-18 (medical redshirt) and missed all of 2018-19. She was an honorable mention All-PacWest selection in 2016-17, averaging 14.6 points a game. She ranks third on the Vulcan all-time scoring list…Fellow senior Sara Shimizu has started 65 games in her UHH career and ranks sixth on the Vulcan career three-pointers made list with 74...Senior, Malia Lee has played in 69 games over three seasons, and Jenna Waki started 23 contests in 2019-20 as a true freshman. Junior point guard Mandi Kawaha has the keys to the car, having averaged close to 10 points a game the past two seasons, while leading the team in assists and steals. Sophomore guard Mikayla Tablit returns (eight starts last year) as does redshirt junior Bree Olson (5-11 forward, Pima CC). Newcomers looking to contribute include Mindy Kawaha (Hilo HS), Noelle Sua-Godinet (Kamehameha-Kapalama), Erica Ingram (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), Kenedi Walters (Cabrillo College), Sierra Cavaletto (Santa Barbara CC) and Kayla Revelo (Vallejo, Calif.).

Pandemic Puzzle: The Vulcans (UH Hilo), Sharks (Hawaii Pacific) and Silverswords (Chaminade) will see a lot of each other this winter. The Pacific West Conference is playing pod-only schedules during the regular season, meaning that the Hawai`i teams will square off a total of 12 times each against each other---same for the schools in the northern California and the southern California portion of the conference. Teams will also play each other on back-to-back days in the same gym, to cut down on travel and exposure. Postseason play is still a possibility, COVID-19 permitting. 

Last Year: The Vulcans finished 10-16 overall and 9-13 in the Pacific West Conference, good for seventh place. After an 1-8 start which included a brutal non-conference schedule, UH Hilo went 9-9 over the back half of their schedule, missing a PacWest tournament berth by just one spot.

The Coach: Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro is in his 11th season leading the Vulcan program, one of only two Vulcan head coaches in program history. 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.