AZUSA, CA (March 8, 2013) – The Hawai'i Pacific Women's Basketball Team (19-6) has punched its ticket to the first ever Pacific West Conference Tournament Championship Game with a dominating 88-74 win over Dixie State College (15-13).

The game looked to be a close, low scoring type of game early on, but nine minutes in, HPU took over. The game was knotted at 16 with 11:03 left in the opening half and then HPU went on a 13-0 run to lead 29-16 at the 6:40 mark. The Sea Warriors would not look back and were not seriously challenged after that. At the half, HPU led 41-25.

In the second half, the Sea Warrior advantage would never drop into single digits. With 11:50 left in the game the HPU lead reached 26 at 63-37 after a layup by Melody Ladrido.

“Our team played really well, our team played hard. The girls have really pulled together all year long. I think it's a testament to their hard work that we were able to get the win tonight,” said head coach Reid Takatsuka.

The HPU defense was swarming, forcing the Red Storm into 22 turnovers and holding them to 43 percent shooting from the floor (26-60).

Offensively, HPU found layup opportunity after layup opportunity, many on back door cuts. At one point, Dixie State tried to press the Sea Warriors, but crisp passing and superior ball handling led to more good looks for HPU. In fact, HPU outscored DSC 42-18 in the paint and 12-0 on fast breaks.

HPU shot 48 percent (39-81) from the floor and 40 percent (8-20) from deep. HPU also held the edge on the glass (42-39).

Skye Savini led all scorers with 23 points; she added five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Susannah Walmsley was also exceptional with 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Mikela Thoemmes had 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Ladrido, Loren Gurrola, and Ieva Nagy each had nine points.

HPU next faces Academy of Art tomorrow at 4:30 PM PST. The Urban Knights earned a spot in the title game with an overtime win against Grand Canyon.

 “Academy of Art is a really good team; I think it's gonna be an exciting game. Both teams are very athletic, they are very talented. I think it's gonna be a good game tomorrow night,” said Takatsuka.

Shark Bites: HPU set a new school record for most wins in a season with 19 victories…Takatuska became the first coach since the PacWest restarted in 2006-2007 to be named Coach of the Year without having a player named to the PacWest First Team.

Box Score