Lauren Hong shot well from everywhere for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team, which needed a late scoring boost against last-place Concordia. ADVERTISING Lauren Hong shot well from everywhere for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team, which needed a late scoring boost
Lauren Hong shot well from everywhere for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team, which needed a late scoring boost against last-place Concordia.
Hong went on a shooting tear, and UHH overcame a 10-point, second-half deficit to beat Concordia 68-63 on Thursday in Irvine, Calif.
The junior guard hit a 3-pointer to put the Vulcans ahead 64-63 with 1:03 remaining, and from there she buried 4 of 6 free throws.
Hong scored 24 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, to lead the Vuls (2-7, 2-2 PacWest).
Vanessa Mancera added 12 points and Sydney Mercer had 10 points for the Vuls, who trailed 31-29 at halftime.
Brittany Stafford and Tyler Crockom each had 15 points for the Eagles (1-9, 0-5), who have lost six in a row.
Both teams had a tough time playing defense without fouling.
UHH made 19 of 29 free throws. Hong was 8 of 10 and Mancera went 7 of 10.
Concordia buried 17 of 27 free throws. Stafford made 9 of 12, and Crockom was 1 of 4.
Haley Brown buried a 3-pointer to put the Eagles ahead 58-48 with 4:37 left in the game.
Then, Kim Schmelz scored five points, Mercer nailed a 3-pointer, and Felicia Kolb attacked the rim and made 3 of 4 free throws and hit a jumper.
Kolb’s jump shot cut Concordia’s lead to 63-61 with 1:42 remaining, setting the stage for Hong’s go-ahead basket.
“Execution-wise, we struggled, especially in the second half, but the we kept battling and hung together,” UHH coach David Kaneshiro said. “Lauren had a good shooting night and we definitely needed it.”
UHH shot 40 percent (21 of 52) from the floor, including 7 of 17 from 3-point distance.
Concordia converted 38 percent (20 of 53) on field goals, including 6 of 21 on treys.
Men struggling, still winless
At least, the UHH men stopped one streak: not allowing someone to score 100 points on them for the third consecutive game.
Still, Concordia defeated the Vuls 90-80 and outrebounded them 33-30 on Thurday night.
Salim Gloyd scored 24 points and Jordan Russell added 23 for UHH (0-9, 0-5), which has been outrebounded in every game so far.
Matt Scott and JT Roach each scored 18 points for the Eagles (11-2, 4-1), who outshot UHH, 54 percent to 47 percent, from the field.
Concordia did a lot of things better, including 3-point shooting (8 of 22 to 6 of 18), bench points (35 to 9) and second-chance points (11 to 8).
The Vuls were better at the free throw line. They made 24 of 27 while the Eagles sank 18 of 27.
UHH opponents are still averaging over 90 points per game.
UHH visits Point Loma Nazarene (7-5, 3-3) on Saturday.
