Kamakawiwoole’s buzzer-beating rainbow lifts Vulcans past Chaminade
HONOLULU – With 3.1 seconds counting down on the clock, Kamalu Kamakawiwoole lofted a rainbow at the basket and hit paydirt as the buzzer sounded to lift the UH-Hilo women’s basketball team past Chaminade, 67-64, Tuesday evening in Pacific West Conference action at McCabe Gymnasium.
The Vulcans started the game with a 12-2 scoring advantage and latched onto a double-digit lead for a majority of the night — leading by as much as 10 points with just over five minutes remaining in the contest — but later found themselves with their backs near the wall as the Silverswords managed to put in eight points in the final minute and a half.
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With eight ticks remaining, Kamakawiwoole was called for an offensive foul before the ball was inbounded, allowing Chaminade’s Morgan Escobedo to find the bottom of the net with an inside pull-up jumper on the ensuing possession to tie the score at 64 with 3.1 seconds left.
A Vulcans timeout advanced the ball near midcourt with Noelle Su’a-Godinet on the inbound. Kamakawiwoole took the ball and seemingly lost track of time as she looked to be settling with milliseconds running through the game clock, but at the last moment, the hometown Kaimuki native launched and landed the three-point splash for the win.
Kamakawiwoole finished with 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting (8-8 FT) to lead UH-Hilo.
UH-Hilo moved to a 7-11 overall record (4-8 PacWest) while Chaminade moved to 1-13 in conference play (3-16 overall).
The Vulcans will return for four more contests at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium to host Chaminade (Feb. 3), Biola (Feb. 8), Concordia University Irvine (Feb. 10) and HPU (March 2).
Saturday’s games will recognize the University of Hawai’i at Hilo’s Division of Student Affairs with a bonus autograph signing session with the team following the conclusion of their contest.
The top six teams at the end of the regular season will make it to San Diego for the 2023-24 PacWest Conference Tournament set for March 7-9 at Point Loma’s Golden Gymnasium.
UH-Hilo continues to fight for a spot, sitting just outside the bubble at No. 7 while Chaminade is last in the standings.
Azusa Pacific remains at the top with an unbeaten record.
