FRESNO, Calif. – A strong push to end each of the first three quarters and a healthy effort from the bench helped the Concordia University Irvine women's basketball team defeat Hawaii Hilo 70-55 on Thursday night out on the islands.
Concordia has now won three straight road games and improved to 7-4 in conference play.
The Golden Eagles went on a 11-1 run to close the opening period and seize control of the contest. True freshman
Asia Darcuiel went coast-to-coast to beat the first period buzzer with a pull up jumper to make it 18-11 Concordia.
Myia Collins added a dozen points and hit a pair of three-pointers from the top of the arc. She opened the scoring with a smooth look at a triple on the first possession of the game and then drained a similar shot right before the halftime horn to put CUI up 33-28 at the break.
Darcuiel followed suit to close the third with five consecutive points. CUI outscored Hawaii Hilo 23-13 in the third to put some distance between the teams and take it to the end.
Camryn Kiernan led the Golden Eagles with 15 points while Darcuiel wound up with 11 of her own.
Current PacWest Defender of the Week Genesis Hopkins and point guard
Hannah Vela anchored the effort on the other end of the floor. That duo combined for 11 points, six rebounds and a couple steals.
"One of the best things about basketball is the places it takes you and the people you get to experience it with," said CUI head coach
Christine Collins-Kiernan. "Being able to travel to Hawaii every year is a special opportunity for our program. It's a fun environment, but it also challenges us to balance bonding and making memories with the maturity to lock in and get our work done."
Senior
Kayla Cabaccang and freshman
Ellana Klemp combined for ten points of the bench, while
Allison Shumate added seven points. Along with sophomores
Sophie McWatt and
Cadence Tarrant, the CUI bench provided 21 points against a Vulcans squad that only played six total players.
"It wasn't always pretty, but we stayed in the fight and found a way to win, and we really needed that," added Coach Collins-Kiernan. "Camryn and Kayla provided strong leadership and production, and Sophie gave us great minutes off the bench. We have one more game on this swing to continue to grow, but it's always nice to have a little win streak in your back pocket."
CUI continues its road trip against Hawaii Pacific this Saturday, Jan. 24 before flying back to SoCal.
The Golden Eagles will then return home to host Jessup on Thursday, Jan 29 at 5 p.m. PT.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's basketball schedule
Concordia is one of six teams that have started to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the conference standings. The Green and Gold are currently 2.5 games ahead of Menlo for the final sport in the chase to secure a bid for the PacWest Conference Tournament in March.
CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest women's basketball standings
