It was a record-setting Friday night for the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team and senior guard Sara Shimizu against woebegone Chaminade during senior night.
The Vulcans drained a team-record 17 triples, and Shimizu had a career-high 24 points in an 89-50 dismantling of the one-win Silverswords before 249 fans at Hilo Civic.
Shimizu torched the perimeter defense on 8 of 13 shooting from 3-point range and added seven rebounds. Sierra Cavaletto came off the bench and scored 22 points on 6 of 8 shooting from long distance, Mandi Kawaha had 12 points, Jenna Waki posted 10 points, and Bree Olson had a double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds, including nine on offense, for the Vulcans (13-9, 10-8 PacWest), who shot 52%, including 17 of 32 from long range and made 6 of 8 free throws.
Nikki Miller, a senior transfer from Notre Dame de Namur, added two points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 26 minutes for the Vulcans, who have benefited from her 6-foot presence and 7.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game averages.
Kawaha eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark and is third in all-time UHH scoring with 1,002 points. Shimizu is second in career 3-pointers with 138.
“I’m so happy for Nikki and Sara. Nikki has been here for only a year, but she’s got a great personality,” UHH coach David Kaneshiro said. “They’re both so positive and kept us upbeat, especially during the start of the season when we had COVID issues and tough losses. They kept the team positive and optimistic. As a result, we were able to ride through that.
“Sara has been really awesome. She’s really grown as a leader. For her to go out with the record for 3s, I’m really happy for her. She’s been great all year. She’s shot it over 40% (43%) on 3s.”
Sasha Phillip came off the bench and scored 13 points, and Paige Relph had nine points for the Silverswords (1-18, 0-15), who shot 33%, including 0 of 9 from 3-point range and made 15 of 31 free throws.
Chaminade had too many self-inflicted mistakes with 17 turnovers and just five assists. UHH had 15 turnovers and 22 assists.
How bad are the Silverswords?
They’ve been pretty awful for more than a decade, not coming close to 10 wins.
The Silverswords have had 16 straight losing seasons, are 42-324 during that long downward spiral, and hold a .129 winning percentage. They’re on pace for setting an NCAA record for most consecutive losing seasons.
UHH is 21-8 all-time against Chaminade, which has had two winless seasons, 0-12 in 2020-21 and 0-27 in 2008-09.
The Vulcans outscored the Silverswords 14-10 in the first quarter, 27-11 in the second, 26-9 in the third, and 22-19 in the fourth.
UHH outscored Chaminade in points off turnovers, 28-11, and bench points, 39-15.
In the second quarter, the Vuls torched the Silverswords for seven 3-pointers. Shimizu hit four, Kawaha two, and Cavaletto one for a 39-19 cushion with 1:15 left.
Cavaletto, a junior guard and Santa Barbara College transfer, drained a pair of triples in the third quarter while Kawaha, Shimizu, and Waki each hit a 3-pointer. Cavaletto’s last long ball increased the cushion to 67-29 with under two minutes until the final 10 minutes.
In the fourth quarter, Cavaletto tortured the Silverswords with three 3-pointers, and Shimizu hit her final triple for a 48-35 lead with under seven minutes remaining.
Any intrigue had been long gone since the first quarter when Mindy Kawaha, who scored two points, dropped in the game’s first two points off the opening tip.
The Silverswords have to replace two senior starters in guard Michaela Dean, who scored eight points on 2 of 10 shooting, and guard Jenna McLean, who had two points on 1 of 2 shooting.
The Vulcans qualified for the PacWest championships, slated for March 3-5 at Fresno, Calif., for the first time since 2014. They’ll be the No. 6 seed and are scheduled to play No. 3 seed Academy of Art.
The teams split the season series, with each team winning on their home court.
The Vulcans locked up their first winning season since 2013 and have their sights set on the mark for most wins, 15-9, set in 2018.