The magical roll continues for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team, which upset Point Loma, a top-tier team in the PacWest.
Mandi Kawaha scored 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer, to lift the Vulcans to a 58-52 victory over the Sea Lions on Saturday at Afook Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Allie Navarette scored 19 points for the Vulcans (3-7, 2-4), who snapped Point Loma’s eight-game winning streak and shot 38 percent from the field, including 6 of 14 from beyond the arc. Navarette grabbed 13 rebounds for the Vuls, who were outrebounded 40-30.
Carol Schroeder scored 10 points, and Onajalise Carley-Hillard added nine points for the Sea Lions (9-4, 5-2), who converted just 29 percent from the floor, including 5 of 25 from 3-point range.
In the fourth quarter, Kawaha buried a 3-pointer to push the Vulcans ahead 49-48 with 3:48 remaining, their first lead since the second quarter.
Navarette, who went 8 of 8 from the free throw line, followed with a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 50-48.
Kawaha later broke down the defense and scored on a left-handed layup as the shot clock expired to bump UHH to a 54-50 lead with 1:25 to go.
UHH made 4 of 6 free throws before Schroeder scored at the buzzer for the final score.
“I told the girls that I’m really proud of the way we fought and competed,” UHH coach David Kaneshiro said. “Point Loma is a great team and well-coached. No. 34 (Carley-Hillard) got hurt and that may have helped us. We were down and came back and found a way to win.”
Carley-Hillard, who leads the conference with a .556 field goal percentage and averages 16 points per game, played just 11 minutes and missed the second half.
Kawaha had a well-rounded game. In 29 minutes, she shot 7 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 2 from 3-point territory and grabbed four rebounds.
“Mandi made big plays for us. She hit a couple of huge 3s and made a layup when the shot clock would down,” Kaneshiro said. “She was great.”
For the most part, the Vuls kept the bigger Sea Lions from racing to the rim, something Kaneshiro pointed to as a key.
“In the second half, we got a little bit better,” he said. “We kept them in front of us. In the first half, they got into the lane. It was a good win. We started the season slowly, and this group has great heart and because of it we’ve been playing better.”
In the third quarter, the Lions hit three 3-pointers to grab a 46-42 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Kawaha scored five points in the third period. She sank a pair of layups, drew a foul and sank her free throw.
At halftime, UHH trailed 31-29 and hung tough despite a few deficiencies. The Sea Lions scored 11 points off UHH’s nine turnovers and had eight second-chance points. The Vuls had zero points in both categories.
Navarette and Carley-Hillard, the top scorers for each team, went right at each other from the start.
Navarette drained a 17-foot shot over Carley-Hillard on the game’s opening possession and finished with 11 points in the first half.
Carley-Hillard muscled her way for just six points in the first half and drew two fouls in the first quarter, which limited her to just under 10 minutes.
Navarette and Mikayla Tablit hit consecutive 3-pointers to push the Vuls ahead 27-26 with 3:25 left until halftime.
The Sea Lions sank a pair of free throws and Kennedi Byram drilled a 3-pointer to retake the lead at 31-27 with 1:28 remaining.
Kawaha attacked the rim and sank a layup to cut Point Loma’s lead to 31-29 at halftime.
UHH committed nine turnovers in the first half, and Point Loma capitalized with 11 points. The Sea Lions also worked the paint for 18 points.
The Vuls sank 4 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half. Tablit made 2 of 3 from 3-point range. She finished with six points.
The Vulcans next host Biola at 5 p.m. Monday at the Civic.