Hawaii Pacific clinched a share of the Pacific West Conference women’s basketball championship with a 66-50 win over Hawaii Hilo on Saturday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo.
Jessi Reeves led the No. 21 Sharks (24-3, 18-2 PacWest) with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds. Gabrielle Fotu hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points and Janessa Manzano also drained three from long range and added 10 points.
Allie Navarette led UH Hilo (7-16, 5-15) with 16 points.
HPU shares the regular-season title — the program’s first since 2015 — with No. 19 Azusa Pacific (27-3, 18-2), which defeated Chaminade 86-68 at McCabe Gym. Destiny Castro led the Silverswords (2-20, 2-18) with 22 points and Diamond Carter added 15 in their season finale.
Doane submitted in UFC fight
Waianae’s Russell Doane was submitted by Rani Yahya in the third round of a bantamweight fight at UFC on Fox 28 on Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Doane (15-8, 3-5 UFC), who had a 13-month layoff between fights, was finished by an arm-triangle choke at 2 minutes, 32 seconds of the third round.
Yahya (25-9, 10-3) landed 105 total strikes to only 15 by Doane and controlled the entire fight.
He scored a takedown early and held Doane on the ground for much of the first round until he landed two illegal knees to the spine and was forced to give up position.
Yahya scored a quick takedown again in the second round and locked Doane in a body triangle that was tough to get out of.
Doane managed to mount Yahya in the third round, but Yahya quickly reversed position to set up the submission attempt that ended it.
UH ends road trip with win
The University of Hawaii softball team closed its season-opening road trip with a 6-3 win over Weber State on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Rainbow Wahine first baseman Rachael Turner and second baseman Alyssa Sojka each drove in two runs and UH snapped a four-game losing streak. Catcher Heather Cameron contributed a double and a triple to UH’s 12-hit attack and scored twice, and right fielder Britnee Rossi went 3-for-3 with an RBI. Dana Thomsen gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked two in a complete-game victory.
UH (6-6) makes its official debut on the renovated field at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium in its home opener on Wednesday against No. 19 California in the Texaco Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament.
UH water polo splits doubleheader
After an opportunity to upset No. 4 UCLA slipped away, the UH water polo team edged No. 8 Pacific to earn a split on Saturday.
The fifth-ranked Hawaii water polo team had a nine-game winning streak snapped with a 9-8 loss to No. 4 UCLA in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif.
Maartje Keuning scored two goals and had three assists for the Rainbow Wahine, but the Bruins took an 8-6 lead early in the fourth period and held on for their 13th straight win over UH.
In UH’s second game, junior Irene Gonzalez had five goals and four assists and Ymane Hage made 10 saves to lead the Wahine to a 12-10 win over No. 8 Pacific.
UH (10-2) faces No. 6 Arizona State today for fifth place in the tournament.
3 UH swimming records fall
Three University of Hawaii swimming records fell on Saturday as the UH swimming and diving teams took part in the Bulldog Last Chance Meet in Athens, Ga.
Metin Aydin, a junior, finished first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:40.84.
Sophomore Olli Kokko took second with his 100-yard backstroke time of 52.85.
Aydin and Kokko joined Mateusz Chaba and Reed Wynn to record a time of 1:43.48 in the 200-yard medley relay during the prelim time trials. Lucia Lassman won the 100-yard butterfly event with her time of 53.34.
UH divers will next compete at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, scheduled for March 5-7 in Flagstaff, Ariz. The swimmers return to the pool on March 21-24 for the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis.
Swish resume ABA home schedule
The Hawaii Swish of the semi-pro American Basketball Association play the Akron Aviators tonight at 7:30 at the Blaisdell Arena, their first action in a month because of a scheduling change.
The Swish (2-0) last played Jan. 26, a 131-72 win over the Chicago Vipers. Tonight is military appreciation night.
“We’re very excited to be back on the court,” team owner/guard Geremy Robinson said.
