IRVINE, Calif. -- Hawai`i Hilo received two of six first-place votes in today’s D2SIDA West Region poll after the Vulcans won at home against Academy of Art to move into second place in the PacWest standings.
 
Heaven Samayoa-Mathis scored 15 points and added four assists in the win for Hawai`i Hilo, which now has a four-game winning streak against four strong West Region programs.
 
Academy of Art bounced back quickly from only its second conference loss this season by beating Hawai`i Pacific. The Urban Knights rushed out to a 30-5 lead with only one field-goal allowed and never trailed for the rest of the game. Chanel Stuart accounted for over half of the Urban Knights’ points in the 82-59 win as she made a conference-record-tying 10 3-pointers.
 
Azusa Pacific remains undefeated in the PacWest and extended its winning streak to seven games by beating Fresno Pacific on the road to complete the season sweep over last year’s NorCal Pod Champion. Kayla Shaw, the PacWest’s leader in 3-pointers made, knocked down four and led the Cougars with 18 points in the 72-52 win.
 
Concordia and Dominican also earned wins and remain in the top-6 of the conference standings at two games over .500 each.
 
This week, Hawai`i Hilo will host Dominican on Monday as the Vulcans’ go for a fifth-consecutive win. Concordia will host Point Loma on Thursday. Then on Saturday, the current top-2 teams in the PacWest will square off as Hawai`i Hilo begins its trip to southern California against Azusa Pacific.
 
Weekly awards for the week of Jan. 10-16
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chanel Stuart, Academy of Art
G, Jr., 5-8 -- Elk Grove, Calif.
Stuart entered the week with a streak of seven-consecutive games with at least three steals, and while that streak came to an end, what she did this week was even more impressive and will put her name in the PacWest record books. Stuart made a record-tying 10 3-pointers in Academy of Art’s win against Hawai`i Pacific on Saturday. She went 10 for 19 from beyond the arc and 13 for 2 from the field as she finished with 42 points, three rebounds, one block and one steal. Stuart’s 42 points is tied for the seventh most in PacWest history. She made five of her 3-pointers in the first quarter alone to give the Urban Knights a 33-7 lead. Earlier in the week, she tied her previous season high for points with 16 against Hawai`i Hilo. She made 4 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc, making her 14 for 26 on 3-pointers for the entire week.
 
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Mandi Kawaha, Hawai`i Hilo
G, Jr., 5-2 -- Hilo, Hawai`i
Four weeks had gone by since the Vulcans’ last game, a win over then No. 1 Alaska Anchorage, and Hawai`i Hilo returned to the court for another big win, taking out Academy of Art to move into second place in the PacWest standings. Defense was a big part of the win for the Vulcans, holding the Urban Knights to just 58 points and Kawaha was key to the team’s defensive success. The 5-foot-2 guard brought down a team-high eight rebounds and recorded her first block of the season. Kawaha also had a season high in steals with four, extending her streak of steals to six games in a row. On the offensive end, Kawaha added 16 points and has still scored 13 points or more in every game this season. As a team, the Vulcans held Academy of Art to a 34.4 field-goal percentage while forcing 18 turnovers. On the season Kawaha has 11 steals, and the Vulcans as a team are holding their opponents to 63.3 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting.