SAN DIEGO, California – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball dropped to Point Loma, 61-51, Saturday afternoon in Pacific West Conference play at the Golden Gymnasium.
The Vulcans fell into an early hole as both teams struggled to score points through the early moments of the contest, but Hawai'i Hilo caught the hot hand from beyond the arc and made 5-of-6 long-range attempts at one point through the second and third quarters. While the Sea Lions were ice cold on 3-pointers (0 for 15), KeanuMarie Huihui hit her third three-point splash at the 8:17 mark of the third period to give the Vulcans their largest lead of eight points at 36-28.
PLNU managed to return the favor and put together a 16-2 run to jump back ahead then followed up by outscoring the Vulcans, 13-2, from the top of the fourth quarter — despite shooting 4 of 14 (.285) from the field during that span (Hawai'i Hilo was just 1 of 9).
Huihui and Jazmine Soto both put in 17 points each (five total 3-pointers), combining for nine rebounds and five steals.
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 1-9 in PacWest play (3-13 overall) as Point Loma moved to a 10-2 conference record (16-5 overall).
OTHER NOTES
- Hawai'i Hilo went 11 of 12 at the charity stripe, posting its highest free-throw percentage (.917) since finishing with identical numbers in a 71-35 win against Fresno Pacific back in Feb. 2023.
- The Vulcans held the No. 1 overall three-point shooting team in the PacWest (.358) to zero long-range makes — the first time ever for the Sea Lions since joining the NCAA Division II in summer 2014.
- Keirstyn Agonias totaled four rebounds and one steal, moving up in the Vulcans record books to No. 9 with 324 career boards (moving past Sara Shimizu '18-'22) and No. 7 with 82 career takeaways (surpassing Allie Navarette '17-'20).
- Mindy Kawaha tallied three assists to move to No. 6 all-time (174 career assists) in the program records (moving past Kamie Imai '12-'13).
- Hawai'i Hilo remained at No. 14 in the PacWest standings with Azusa Pacific at the top with an 11-1 conference record. Point Loma moved up to a tie at No. 2 with Vanguard.
UP NEXT: Thursday, Jan. 30 (5:30 PM) vs Academy of Art (Hilo, Hawai'i / Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium)