It started out better for the UH-Hilo women and after a first half lull it improved again in the second half but at the end, it was another setback when they fell to their sixth consecutive defeat – 66-65 on
It started out better for the UH-Hilo women and after a first half lull it improved again in the second half but at the end, it was another setback when they fell to their sixth consecutive defeat – 66-65 on Tuesday at Hilo Civic – watching an opponent sink the game winning free throw with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.
Hawaii Hilo (1-8 and 1-5 in the Pacific West Conference), used a suffocating zone defense to clamp down on Azusa Pacific (6-7, 4-1 in PWC), in the first half, limiting the Cougars to 13.3 percent from the floor (2-for-15) in the first quarter, and by the time it was over, AP was only at 29.7 percent (19-for-64), but it was enough at the end to catch the Vulcans who had a 65-63 lead with 1:03 left on Kim Schmelz’s 3-pointer, but that was all they could get.
Gabrielle Kaiser hit a basket with 50.1 seconds left to tie the game and after a scramble under the basket as the clock was running out, the whistle blew and Kaiser went to the line with the game in her hands.
“We were really, really fortunate,” said Azusa Pacific coach T.J. Hardeman. “Hilo worked so hard they took us away from things we wanted to do, but these close games, it seems like we are always playing this way. We go down to the wire with whoever we play, it seems.”
Hardeman said he could never recall a team that shot as poorly as the Cougars did in the first quarter, “and to be honest, it didn’t get a whole lot better.”
Schmelz led the Vulcans win 21 point and freshman Sharlei Graham-Bernisto added a career high 13.
The Vulcans started off with an early lead, third first lead in a game since they played Chaminade on Dec. 10, but after a 31-27 lead at halftime, they got a scoring jolt from junior Jamaika Lorenzo in the third quarter when she poured through nine straight point in three minutes for a 48-44 lead.
From that point Hawaii Hilo seemed to take flight with an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter for a 59-48 lead before the Cougars began the comeback.
The Vulcans were weakened without the availability of post player and leading rebounder Asia Smith (foot), post Patience Taylor (thumb) and guard Lauren Hong (concussion).
