Kirstie Williams scored 22 points, hitting 7 of 10 3-pointers, to spark the University of Hawaii at Hilo to a 78-73 win over Azusa Pacific University on Monday night.
The Pacific West Conference women’s basketball game was held in Azusa, Calif.
“It’s a great win for us,” UH-Hilo women’s coach David Kaneshiro said. “Coming into the game, Azusa Pacific was in first or second place, and it took a huge effort for us to come here and win on their home court.
“I’m really proud of our players. They put together a great game and refused to lose.”
Williams, who earlier on the three-game trip had a 7-for-10 shooting performance on 3-pointers, found her stroke against the Cougars (16-7, 14-3 PacWest).
“They played a zone and we were able to move the ball around and get it to Kirstie and our other open shooters,” Kaneshiro said. “I thought McKenzie (Mangino) and Kamie (Imai) did a terrific job in the middle against the zone and found our shooters.”
Mangino, a 5-foot-10 junior center, finished with 16 poinst to follow the hot-handed Williams, a 5-6 junior guard.
“McKenzie played well, and so did Kamie,” Kaneshiro said. “It took a really good team effort to get this win and end our losing streak. We hope to carry this confidence over into our upcoming homestand.”
The Vulcans (7-13, 6-10) also made 14 of 14 free throws. “And we needed every one of them,” Kaneshiro said.
Sendy Valles led Azusa Pacific with 32 points, including three treys. Kelly Hardeman had 12 and Katie Powell 10 for the hosts.
The Vulcans teams return to Hilo to finish their conference season with four home games — Thursday vs. Holy Names University; Feb. 24 vs. Notre Dame de Namur; Feb. 27 vs. Fresno Pacific; and March 1 vs. Hawaii Pacific University.
UH-Hilo 29 49 — 78
APU 32 41 — 73
Men
Azusa Pacific 92, UH-Hilo 79
Darnell Williams scored a game-high 31 points, but the Vulcans (3-19, 0-16) couldn’t stop Azusa Pacific (14-9, 10-7) from winning its third straight game. Tyler Monroe led a balanced Cougars attack with 17 points.
WOMEN’S GOLF
The University of Hawaii at Hilo is in ninth place at St. Mary’s University’s Lady Rattler Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.
Kacie Harada is tied for 14th place at 7-over-par 79 to lead the Vulcans on the par-72, 5950-yard course.
A stroke back and tied for 26th place is Nyssa Aoki. She is joined by Kristen Sawada (T39, 83), Dayna Bersamin (T49, 84) and Jade Salvador (T54, 85). Playing as an individual is Erika Morihiro (T54, 85).
Tarleton State’s Jessica Pickwick and Northeastern State’s Sofia Castiello are tied at 2-over-par 74 to lead the individual competition.
Tarleton State leads the team competition with a 307 followed by St. Edwards (311), Northeastern State (316), Angelo State (319), Rogers State (320), Chico State (321), West Texas A&M (324), Dallas Baptist (25), UH-Hilo (326), Southwest Oklahoma State (327), Cameron (333), Newman and St. Mary’s (335), Lubbock Christian (342), Western New Mexico (351), Colorado State-Pueblo (352), Texas A&M-Kingsville (358) and Texas A&M-International (365).
By Stephens Media Hawaii sources