LAIE, Hawai'i — Hawai'i Pacific University cut a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to one-point, but couldn't dig out of the hole as the Sharks lost to Cal State-Dominguez Hills Saturday evening in the Hukilau Classic Friday evening at BYU-Hawaii's Cannon Activities Center.
 
The Sharks (0-2) dropped their second game in two days as the Toros (3-2) won their third straight on the island.
 
HPU was paced by the play of junior Breanna Mackenzie, a 5-8 guard from Melbourne, Australia/Box Hill, who had a game high 23 points with five steals. Mackenzie hit 9-of-16 from the floor with 2-of-4 from the 3-point arc and 3-of-4 from the foul line.
 
HPU also got 11 points each from senior guard VeAnne Navarro of Modesto, Calif./Modesto Christian, junior guard Spencer Gray of Centerville, Ohio/Centerville, and sophomore forward Gabriella Fotu of Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto. The Sharks got seven rebounds from junior forward Jessi Reeves of Coffs Harbour, Australia.
 
CSUDH was paced by Imari Brown with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Kayla Gillett added 19 points with six boards. Dijour Ledbetter collected 11 points with a game high eight rebounds for the Toros.
 
HPU actually outshot the Toros 44 percent (28-of-64) to 43 percent (28-of-65), and had one more 3-pointer than did CSUDH (9-to-8). But the difference in the contest came at the foul line, where the Toros hit 19-of-24 shots (79 percent) as the Sharks connected 15-of-23 (65 percent). CSUDH out rebounded HPU 44-to-36.
 
The Sharks led most of the first quarter before a Lisa Rhett connected on a layup and free throw to give the Toros a 22-19 in the last second of play.
 
The Sharks tied the game coming out of quarter break on a Janessa Manzano's 3-pointer. Then both teams peeled off 10-0 runs that led to a 36-all tie at intermission.
 
Dominguez Hills opened up a six-point advantage in the third quarter, with the Sharks cutting it to a 60-57 differential at the end of the third on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Danielle Iwami of Seal Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos.
 
The Toros opened the final period extending the lead to 10 points, but the Sharks weren't done. Using a 9-0 run, HPU cut the lead to 71-70 on a free throw by Gray. After a 3-pointer by the Toros, Fotu buried a trey with 1:18 to play.
 
The Toros answered with a Brown jumper and a pair of free throws by DeLaura Castanada with 34 seconds left gave CSUDH a 5-point lead that the Sharks could recover from. CSUDH traded points with the Sharks, but HPU could only close the game to three at 83-80.
 
The Sharks are back on the hardwood after Thanksgiving as they play in a classic in Ellensburg, Wash. HPU meets Northwest Nazarene at noon HST (3 p.m. PST) on Friday in the first game of the classic.