Box Score (photo by Rick Ogata)
BOX SCORE

HILO, Hawai`i--No. 1 regionally ranked Hawai`i Pacific picked up right where they left off a year ago, winning their 27th straight game this time at UH Hilo's expense, 69-46.

The Sharks improved to 2-0 on the year and to 1-0 in the Pacific West Conference opener for both teams. The Vulcans are now 0-1, and will square off again against the Sharks on Sunday at Vulcan Gymnasium at noon.

The Sharks, who were 29-1 a year ago and legitimate national title contenders before COVID shut down the season, had four players in double figures. Avery Cargill and Ally Bates tied for scoring honors with 15 points each, with Makenna Gambee adding 14 and Alysha Marcucci 12. The PacWest Preseason Player of the year, Amy Baum, was held to just four points but she also had eight assists and eight rebounds.

The Vulcans were led by Mandi Kawaha's 17 points. Kawaha was tasked for most of the game with guarding Baum, taxing her on both ends of the floor. The junior guard hit 7-of-11 shots and also had three assists. Jenna Waki and Bree Olson added eight points each, while Mikayla Tablit led UHH with seven rebounds and three steals.

The Sharks rolled out to a 11-2 lead partway through the first quarter and held a 14-7 lead at the end of ten minutes. The Vulcans would cut the margin to five points at 17-12  early in the second period, but the Sharks would pull away again and take a 32-22 halftime lead with a trey by Marcucci at the buzzer.

Gambee had 11 of her points at the break and Baum had six of her assists in the first 20 minutes. 

Sara Shimizu would score the first basket of the second half to make it an eight-point game, but the Sharks promptly went on a 7-0 run to start to put the game out of reach. HPU led 55-35 at the end of the third quarter and would outscore UHH 14-11 in the fourth for the final score of 69-46.