Box Score HONOLULU (December 3, 2015)—After enduring a sluggish start, the Hawaii Pacific women's basketball team rebounded to claim an 86-63 victory over Holy Names and opened PacWest Conference play on a positive note at Blaisdell Arena.
The Sharks (1-0 PacWest, 3-4 overall) received a game-high 17 points apiece from sophomore guard
Breanna Mackenzie and sophomore forward
Jessi Reeves, while
Cece Pearl dominated the post and racked up 16 points. Reserve
Aminata Cole corralled a game-high nine rebounds and made nine-of-11 free throw attempts to finish with 13 points.
HPU, which finished a program-best 25-5 last season and made it to the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, shot an efficient 55.4 percent from the field and converted on 14-of-16 attempts from the charity stripe. The Sharks out-rebounded their opponents 38-24, and their bench outscored Holy Names 26-0.
The Hawks (0-1, 1-5) established a 13-10 advantage through the first quarter after forcing five HPU turnovers. The Sharks found an offensive rhythm in the second stanza and, thanks in part to 13 first-half points from Pearl, rode a 25-11 run in the second quarter to a 35-24 halftime lead.
Holly Shafer led Holy Names with 16 points.
The Sharks return to the Blaisdell Arena on Saturday to host PacWest foe Concordia University Irvine (Calif.) at 1 p.m.
