HILO, Hawai'i – Three points in 3.1 seconds was the difference when these two teams met earlier in the week so it only seemed fair that the two squads would battle down to the wire in the rematch, but this time, needing an extra five minutes to settle the score as Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball made it a total team effort for a 73-67 victory over Chaminade Saturday evening in Pacific West Conference action at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
It was a similar storyline with the Vulcans leading for much of the contest until the Silverswords managed to squeak ahead late in the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 58-56 lead with single-digit seconds left on the clock — freshman Megan Escobedo once again provided the last-second shot for Chaminade. In addition to being down in numbers on the sideline, it was "next man up" for Hawai'i Hilo after Kamalu Kamakawiwoole (and Kaile Cruz) fouled out earlier in the period.
Coming out of a timeout with 6.1 seconds remaining, Keirstyn Agonias took the inbound and lost the ball driving in under the hoop, but Erica Ingram grabbed the rock and drew the foul on the way up to go to the free throw line with a chance to tie. The junior had not taken any free-throw attempts in the previous four games and had gone just 1 of 4 from the charity stripe earlier in the night, but with ice in her veins, Ingram nailed back-to-back shots to send the contest to overtime.
It was crunch time and the Vulcans got big early baskets on 3-pointers from Melanie Hiu and Kendall Oda — both their first points of the evening. The Silverswords inched within striking distance with quick back-to-back baskets aided by a turnover, but Hiu once again drained the ball through the bottom of the net to make it a 66-63 score with under two minutes to go.
The two teams traded baskets as Vulcans continued to answer every time getting buckets from Noelle Su'a-Godinet and Agonias in the final minute as Ingram again sank the final last-second free throws to take the victory.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to an 8-11 overall record (5-8 PacWest) while Chaminade moved to 1-14 in conference play (3-17 overall).
The Vulcans return for three more contests at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium to host Biola (Feb. 8), Concordia University Irvine (Feb. 10) and HPU (March 2).
PATH TO PACWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The top six teams at the end of the regular season will make it to San Diego for the 2023-24 PacWest Conference Tournament set for March 7-9 at Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium.
Hawai'i Hilo continues to fight for a spot, sitting just outside the bubble at No. 7 while Chaminade is last in the standings.
Azusa Pacific remains at the top with an unbeaten record.
PACWEST HAWAI'I CHALLENGE
In an effort to elevate Hawai'i-based rivalries, the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge has awarded the top school in athletics competition among the state's Division II institutions going back to the late 1970s.
Comprising 10 sports that all three schools participate in, points are awarded from head-to-head Pacific West Conference matchups as well as final placements at conference-ending championship events. The team with the highest total gets three points while the second highest gets two and the third-place finisher receives one.
Through the first round of basketball action, all three schools were tied with a 1-1 record between one another.
