Vulcan women hoopsters win two over the weekend

Twice was nice for the University of Hawaii at Hilo women’s basketball team as it took down Multnomah University of Portland, Ore., 85-57, Sunday for back-to-back victories on back-to-back days in non-conference play at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Vulcans book-ended Saturday’s 60-51 win over Multnomah with hot-scoring first and fourth quarters, outscoring the Lions a combined 56-21. UH-Hilo went on consecutive scoring runs of 9-0, 10-0 and 8-0 through the two periods.

“I like the effort and the focus to try to improve,” Vulcans head coach David Kaneshiro said of his team’s performance through two weeks of regular-season play. “We improved on some things we talked about at showground (Sunday) morning.

“It’s still early in the year and we’re trying to be more consistent with focus and intensity, especially on the defensive end. Just got to keep working at it.”

The Lions put together a 20-3 scoring run in the third quarter to whittle the Vulcans’ lead to just single digits, but Mandi Kawaha quickly scored seven points and assisted on another basket to re-extend UH-Hilo’s lead early in the final period.

Mandi Kawaha led the team with 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while sister Mindy Kawaha was efficient on five-of-seven shooting for 17 points with two 3-pointers and five free-throws in five attempts.

Bree Olson tallied double-digit rebounds, finishing with 12 to go along with eight points.

The Vulcans went 13 of 28 from beyond the arc, going a combined nine of 15 through the first and last quarters. The Lions finished two for nine.

Alaygza Portis finished with a double-double for Multnomah, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.