Phoenix, AZ (2/17/11) – In a battle of regional powers, Hawai'i Pacific came up short against Grand Canyon 70-60 in Arizona. HPU could not get to the line in the Antelopes' home gym, GCU attempted 30 free throws while HPU shot just 11. The Sea Warriors were sloppy with the basketball, accumulating 25 turnovers.

Jazzmin Awa-Williams outdueled the nation's leading scorer, Samantha Murphy, racking up a game-high 25 points on 11-19 shooting. Skye Savini added 13 points for HPU, and Courtney Buster led the team with eight rebounds.

In the first half, HPU went down 11 with 6:36 left, but it would rally. To close the half, HPU went on a 13-5 run, just trailing by three at the break. With 10:59 left in the game, the Sea Warriors would take their first, and only lead on a basket by Awa-Williams. GCU took control with 3:40 to play and did not look back.

HPU failed to reach the foul shooting bonus in either half. The loss makes the Sea Warriors now 16-5 overall and 10-2 inside the PacWest.

Grand Canyon was led by Murphy with 20 points on just 4-20 shooting. GCU is now 21-2 and 9-1 in the conference.

HPU now travels to Dixie St. on Saturday for a pivotal conference match-up; start time is 5:30 P.M. MST.