Photo courtesy of Ben Rosehart, CUI Sports Information Director.

IRVINE, Calif.-- The UH Hilo women's basketball team was unable to keep up with Concordia University Irvine's offensive production in a 68-51 loss in the CU Arena.
 
UHH (7-4, 4-3 PacWest Conference) suffered by the hands of CUI's (9-6, 6-3 PacWest) Michaela VanderKlugt and Jasmine Rachal. VanderKlugt scored a gym high of 29 points followed by Rachal who tallied 23 points for the Eagles.
 
UH Hilo trailed CUI 32-19 after the first two quarters. The Eagles' Rachal was on fire scoring 19 points while the Vulcans had a balanced attack on the scoring front with Nikki Miller leading the charge with six points. 
 
The Eagles took off on a six-point run returning from halftime which Vulcan head coach David Kaneshiro broke up with a strategic timeout. Following Kaneshiro's timeout was a layup by  Jenna Waki that put the Vulcans on the board in the third quarter (38-21). 
 
CUI led by as much as 26 points in the third quarter which created a difficult deficit for the Vulcans to overcome. UH Hilo heated up in the fourth, cutting the gap to as little as 11 points before the Eagles hit two treys, wrapping the game up 68-51 in CUI's favor.   
 
Vulcan Leaders…POINTS: Mandi Kawaha 14, Miller 10, Heaven Samayoa-Mathis 9; STEALS: Sara Shimizu 5; BLOCK: Waki 5; ASSISTS: Mandi Kawaha 3, Waki 2; REBOUNDS: Shimizu 6, Miller 5, Bree Olson 4.
 
Shimizu Career-High…Senior Shimizu reached a career-high of five steals against the Eagles in 26 minutes of playing time.
 
Second Chance Points…The Vulcans capitalized on their six offensive rebounds scoring six second chance points. UHH outscored CUI 6-2 in that category. 
 
Bench Points…The Vulcans' bench stepped up to the challenge against the Eagles adding 10 bench points. UHH outscored CUI 10-0 in bench points. 
 
Up Next… The Vulcans will continue their Southern California road trip against Biola on Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 3:30pm HST in the Chase Gymnasium where they are allowing spectators (subject to change). Watch links will be available on hiloathletics.com. 
 
Biola Ticket Info, CLICK HERE.