HILO, Hawai'i – With potential postseason implications on the line, the Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball team took care of business and celebrated its lone senior with a 63-54 victory over HPU Saturday afternoon in Pacific West Conference play at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Kamalu Kamakawiwoole, the Vulcans' only departing senior, capped the regular season with 18 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks — the latter of which brought her season total to 32 to not only match her final count from a season ago, but also tie the program's individual single-season record. Overall, Kamakawiwoole will leave as the program's all-time career leader with 64.
"I think Kamalu's leadership played a big part in the continuous development and improvement of the team," Vulcans 14th-year head coach David Kaneshiro said. "She's very soft spoken so if you're not with the team you wouldn't know it, but she gives a lot of confidence. She's always talking to teammates about how much she believes in them so I think her leadership had a lot to do with the improvement.
"It was never about her. We talked and it was never about trying to get more points or this or that. It was always about what she could do to try to help someone on the team play better or get their confidence up so she's just so unselfish. I would go so far to say she's as unselfish a superstar player that I've ever coached. It's always been about the team and how she could help her teammates. I was happy she had a great game tonight so just kind of disappointed we don't get to coach her again. But happy for her. She certainly capped off a great career."
As for the Vulcans, they were in a must-win situation to keep their postseason hopes alive but they needed help with other losses around the league on Saturday. Their chances increased after Academy of Art upset Biola just a few days prior, making for a potential three-team tie for the final No. 5 and No. 6 spots into the PacWest Championship postseason tournament. A win over HPU coupled with either a loss by Biola to Dominican or Concordia University Irvine to Westmont would have granted Hawai'i Hilo the golden ticket into the playoffs via tiebreaker rules.
Unfortunately, neither CUI nor Biola was defeated on the final day of play as they both secured the final two postseason berths.
"From the beginning of the week we knew where we stood," Kaneshiro said. "Every day before practice, we just remind them that we have to take care of what we need to do. We can just control how well we practice and how well we'll try to play and they did a really good job. Disappointed that we didn't get in but proud of them — seven of our last nine we won and they've steadily improved throughout the year."
Keirstyn Agonias and Erica Ingram also tallied up 10 points each.
PACWEST HAWAI'I CHALLENGE
With the victory, the Vulcans secured the three points for women's basketball in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge after going 3-1 against HPU and Chaminade this season. The Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball team also wrapped up the season-series victory to put the Vulcans out front in the lead with a score of 14 through the conclusion of the winter sports season.
HPU now sits with a score of 12. Chaminade has 11.
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.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo finishes the 2023-24 season with a 13-13 overall record (10-10 PacWest) while HPU moved to 5-15 in conference play (7-19 overall).
Mahalo to all the fans and supporters of Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball this season.
