The University of Hawaii at Hilo women’s basketball team probably did its homework, and recognized that Katie Hardy and a bunch of Beavers didn’t come in from the cold of North Dakota, where the temperature is in the 25-degree range,
The University of Hawaii at Hilo women’s basketball team probably did its homework, and recognized that Katie Hardy and a bunch of Beavers didn’t come in from the cold of North Dakota, where the temperature is in the 25-degree range, to take a sun tan.
Rather the 6-foot-1 senior forward from Minot State traveled more than 3,600 miles with her Beaver teammates to chew up opposing defenses.
In her team’s last three wins, Hardy averaged 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds as the Beavers smashed their foes by an average scoring differential of 11 points.
Her scoring rampage hit a cold streak but her teammates picked up the slack on Wednesday, and the Vulcans fell to the Beavers 69-58 at UHH gym in their official season opener.
In an exhibition game against the Division I Rainbow Wahine on Oct. 29, UHH committed 25 turnovers and lost 90-53.
Diondra Denton scored 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting, and Alex Haley had 24 points on 7 of 11 from the field to lead the Beavers (4-0), who converted 42 percent from the floor, including 8 of 16 from beyond the arc.
Kirstie Williams and McKenzie Mangino each scored 10 points for the Vulcans (0-1), who made 33 percent from the field, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range.
Both teams went 19 of 27 on free throws, something of a stat rarity for a high volume of foul calls.
One big difference was endurance. The Vulcans played with high energy for all 40 minutes. The Beavers, who beat BYU-Hawaii on Tuesday, looked sluggish in all parts of the game — running the court, moving their feet on defense, and jumping either for rebounds or layups.
Only Haley, who kept dribble-driving past the Vuls, and Denton, a 5-foot-10 guard, who outmuscled taller foes for putbacks, played like they had a full tank of gas. The effects of jet lag and the interisland flight definitely sapped the rest of the Beavers, who still found a way to persevere in the second half.
Alex Jacobs scored seven points and Whitney Edens added six points off the bench to help UHH tie Minot State 33-33 at halftime. Jacobs finished with nine points and Edens eight points.
The Vulcans held Hardy to just three points on 1 of 3 shooting, but couldn’t stop Denton, who had 14 points in the first half.
At least UHH stopped Hardy, who finished with just three points on 1 of 5 shooting.
The Beavers opened the second half with a 17-6 run, scoring all of their points except Haley’s 3-pointer, in the paint. Twice, Haley beat her defender off the dribble, got fouled and sank four free throws. Then she capped the scoring spurt with a long ball for a 50-39 lead with 12:52 left.
The Vuls got within 60-56 after Williams sank a 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining, but Haley answered with a three-point play (again beating someone off the dribble) and a 3-ball to provide a bit of breathing room. That was the momentum shift when no one could blanket the difference-making Haley.
Like UHH, Minot State is a Division II team. The Beavers played three exhibition games. They beat Dickinson State, an NAIA school, 77-48, and lost to Division I foes University of Montana 75-46 and Montana State 84-71.
Last season, the Beavers finished with a 19-9 record, and lost in the NSIC tournament quarterfinals to conference powerhouse Concordia-St. Paul 73-52. Concordia-St. Paul and Wayne State have each been to four of the last five NCAA Division II championships.
In 2012-13, Minot State jumped to the Division II level from the NAIA, and finished with a 13-14 record. The previous season the Beavers were an independent and had an 11-15 mark, playing mostly on the road.
In 2010-11, Minot State went 22-8 on the NAIA level, and most notable it was the sixth consecutive season coach Sheila Green Gerding coached an NAIA All-American.
Last season, she coached Carly Boag to Division II All-American honors for the second straight year, and Boag was the conference player of the year as a senior.
If Hardy can pick up her scoring flow she’ll be a strong candidate to follow in Boag’s footsteps and continue her coach’s streak of developing All-American players. Boag’s sister is Christina Boag, a 6-1 senior forward.
Green Gerding has recruited from her back yard — Hardy is from North Dakota — to hoop hotspots around the world; the Boag sisters are from Australia, and Morgan Hunter, a 5-9 sophomore guard, is from New Zealand and played on the junior national team.
If the Vulcans schedule Minot State again, Hardy will be gone, but the Beavers may be even better because they landed a blue-chip recruit in Kia Fisker, who signed a national letter of intent on Tuesday.
Fisker is a 6-1 forward from Denmark. She was on the Under-21 national team that played in China this year, and competed in the U-18 European Championships last year. She’ll be a freshmen for the 2015-16 season.
Big Island College Report
Peni returns
UNLV junior safety Peni Vea, a 2011 Kealakehe High graduate, is one of six players from Hawaii on the football team’s roster, but the only Big Island product.
He’ll play at Aloha Stadium for the last time as a Rebel on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference game. Next season, UNLV will host UH.
Vea is second on the team with 69 tackles. He also has 2 ½ sacks ad a forced fumble.
Last season, he earned All-MWC honorable mention after starting all 13 games, leading the team with 108 tackles, including three for loss, and snagging two picks.
Boxers fall
Pacific University’s football hopes of an automatic NCAA Division II appearance hit a roadblock on the road Saturday, when Linfield won 59-0.
That snapped the Boxers’ six-game winning streak. Two weeks ago, Pacific (6-3, 6-1 Northwest Conference) clinched a share of the league title. Linfield (8-1, 6-1) earned the conference’s automatic playoff spot.
Junior quarterback Warner Shaw (Kamehameha, 2012) completed 8 of 17 for 38 yards for the Boxers, and was sacked six times.
Shaw finished with a school record 68.4 completion percentage, topping the 64.7 mark of current assistant coach P.J. Minaya set last season.
