HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball bookended the 2024 De Luz Chevrolet Big Island Holiday Classic with a thrilling 68-61 win over Truman State Saturday evening at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Similar to Friday's game against Western Washington less than 24-hours prior, the Vulcans got off to a lava-hot start shooting 7 of 8 through the final five minutes of the opening quarter for a 17-1 run to take a double-digit lead.
The short-handed Vulcans — playing with just six active players this time — built up to as large of a lead as 20 points midway through the second quarter, but the Bulldogs managed to chip away late in the contest to make it a single-digit difference with minutes to go. Truman State put together a 10-0 run and Caiyle Kaupu fouled out of the game with just over a minute remaining, but final tank-emptying defensive stands by the Vulcans and free throws iced the victory to end the 2024 calendar year on a high note.
"I'm just extremely proud of the way the team has played these last few games," Hawai'i Hilo head coach David Kaneshiro said. "The resiliency and fight our players have shown and still having a shot at the end of the game is all I can ask for and I'm just proud of the way they played. I'm looking forward to having a healthier 2025 with conference play coming up."
Hawai'i Hilo shot over .400 for the third consecutive game and posted a season-high 49.1 shooting percentage led by 18 points (four 3-pointers) from Jazmine Soto (new game-high as a Vulcan) followed by 16 points from Kaupu (7-11 FG) and 15 points from Keirstyn Agonias (7-12 FG).
The Vulcans' other victory of the season came against Western Oregon on Nov. 27 to open the November portion of the 2024 De Luz Chevrolet Big Island Holiday Classic.
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 2-6 overall (0-2 PacWest) as Truman State moved to a 5-8 record (2-1 GLVC).
UP NEXT: Thursday, Jan. 2 (5:30 PM) vs Concordia University Irvine (Hilo, Hawai'i / Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium)
DE LUZ CHEVROLET BIG ISLAND HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Winter 2022 marked the return of the Big Island Holiday Classic, bringing many men's and women's collegiate basketball programs to the Big Island of Hawai'i for competition and fun at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. The event, put on by TItleTown Events and hosted by the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, is a modern reiteration of the Big Island Invitational Tournament from the 1990s, which featured many NCAA Division I programs with the likes of Oklahoma, Oregon State, Iowa State, Arkansas, Creighton, Purdue, Stanford and UConn among others. More information available at HiloAthletics.com/BIC.
SEASON TICKETS: Season tickets for 31 total Vulcans Basketball home events are now available. Online purchase available at HiloAthletics.com/Tickets.
VIDEO LIVESTREAM: Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball video livestream packages are now available for purchase online through the recently-launched PacWest Network, powered by Hudl TV. The 2024-25 season includes 17 total home broadcasts for $191.25. Prorated prices are available up until the midway point of the season. More information at HiloAthletics.com/livestream.
TRUMAN STATE UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS
- NCAA Division II – Great Lakes Valley Conference
- Location: Kirksville, Missouri
- Enrollment: 3,600
- Preseason Poll: No. 11 GLVC
- Last Meeting: None
QUINCY RETURNS TO THE 50TH STATE NEARLY 50 YEARS LATER
Quincy University Women's Basketball was one of 12 teams to make the trip over to Hilo for this year's De Luz Chevrolet Big Island Holiday Classic. For the Hawks — based on the western border of Illinois near Missouri — not only was it an opportunity for a life-time experience, but also a sort of following of footsteps of the 1977-78 Quincy Women's Basketball team who took a trip to Hawai'i to play UH Manoa for two games that January.
The Vulcans and Hawks did not play each other this past weekend.
As part of the itinerary set up by event organizer TitleTown Events, traveling teams took trips to 'Akaka Falls State Park and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park along with visiting the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and Diamond Head State Monument on O'ahu.
Other participating teams this year came from Fontbonne University (Men's and Women's), Kansas Wesleyan University (Men's), Edgewood College, Williams Baptist University, Western Washington University, Fort Hays State University, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Western Oregon University and Northern State University.
