HILO, Hawai`i—It didn't too long to see why pollsters probably aren't wrong in listing the Azusa Pacific women's basketball team at No. 4 in the country.

The Cougars led from start to finish in opening up conference play with an 81-57 win over the host Hawai`i Hilo Vulcans at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Cougars improved to 6-0 in winning their Pacific West Conference season opener. The Vulcans are now 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

The No. 1 regionally ranked Cougars had four players in double figures and ten players in the scorebook, led by Savannah Hanson and Laura Pranger's 15 points each. Sara Shimizu and Kim Schmelz led UH Hilo with 14 points each.

APU, the defending PacWest and West Region champs, jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed. A Shimizu trey pulled UHH to within one point at 9-8, but the Cougars finished the quarter on a 7-3 run to lead 20-13.

The Cougars stayed hot in the second quarter, beginning the period on an 11-0 blitz. They would hit seven three-pointers in the first half, and with six players over six-feet tall, held a 18-9 rebound edge at the break—along with a 45-25 lead.

After trailing by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter, the Vulcans made a bold run (11-1), fueled by three-pointers from Schmelz and Shimizu to close the margin to 61-47 at the end of the quarter. But the Cougars answered quickly in the fourth with a 12-1 run to close the door.

Shimizu was 4-for-6 from trey-land for her 14 points. Chyann Gabriel added 13. For APU, in addition to Hanson and Pranger, Daylee Hanson had 13 points and Cierra Roufosse was close to a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.

The Vulcans now hit the road for three tough contests in southern California, taking on Concordia (Dec. 7), Biola (Dec. 10) and Point Loma (Dec. 12).