Box Score PEARL HARBOR, HI (December 19, 2013)—The Hawai'i Pacific Women's Basketball Team (6-2) picked up a signature win on Thursday night, defeating #17 Northwest Nazarene (8-2) 72-71. The victory was the opening game of the HPU Basketball Classic being held at Bloch Arena at Pearl Harbor Naval Base.

Like the fighter jets that could be heard landing at nearby Hickam Air Field, the two team's offenses took off from the opening tip. Combined the teams scored 49 points in the first 9:16 with the Crusaders enjoying a 29-20 lead.

NNU pushed its lead out to 12 with 9:39 to play in the half, but the Sea Warriors responded, whittling the lead to four after a Skye Savini jumper with just over a minute play in the half.  The Crusaders hit a pair of quick buckets before Laken McClelland knocked down two free throws just before the break leaving HPU with a 46-40 deficit.

Both teams shot well from the floor in the first half with NNU knocking down 50% (16-32) of its shots including 50% (6-12) of its three-pointers. HPU hit 41.4% (12-29) from the floor, but only 26.7% (4-15) of its shots from long range. HPU helped keep the score close by hitting 92.3% (12-13) of its foul shots in the first half.

In the midst of a tough shooting night from long range, the Sea Warriors turned up the pressure defensively and mixed in some clutch shots down the stretch to turn the momentum in their direction.

HPU tied the game at 48 with 15:19 to play when Veanne Navarro drove the lane and hit a layup. Playing with four fouls, Ieva Nagy gave the Sea Warriors their first lead just two minutes later on a three-pointer after taking a feed from a slashing Savini.
HPU pushed its lead out to nine in a 64 second span that included a deep three-pointer from Brittany Hale, followed by a Navarro steal and layup, a technical foul on the NNU coach and a McClelland layup with 6:58 to play in the game.

Undeterred, NNU showed why it is the #17 team in the nation, fighting its way back to tie the score at 69 with 1:37 to play. HPU answered by going inside to Morganne Comstock who knocked down a jump hook despite being fouled hard on the shot. The junior coolly hit the free throw to complete the three-point play which proved to be enough. The Sea Warriors made a pair of defensive stops to close out the game and picked up the 72-71 victory.

As they've done all season the Sea Warriors spread the scoring around with four players in double-digits.

Navarro had a team-high 14 points, 12 of them in the second half, including a clutch 6-6 performance from the line after halftime. Comstock was big, especially down the stretch, registering 13 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. McClelland and Nagy each scored 10 for HPU, with McClelland adding eight boards and a pair of steals.

Head Coach Reid Takatsuka, who picked up his third win in three years against a nationally ranked opponent, commented on his team's big win, "I am very proud of our girl's performance tonight, especially coming off the road trip. That is a very good team we just played toe-to-toe with and won. The girls never gave up and fought the entire game."

The Sea Warriors return to action on Saturday when they face Malone University at Bloch Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.