HONOLULU — Hawai'i Pacific University won its fifth straight game against Division II competition as they led wire-to-wire in defeating Dominican (Calif.) 85-51 in PacWest action Thursday evening at Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (5-2, 3-0) are part of a three-way tie for the lead in the PacWest Conference. Dominican (5-5, 1-2) lost its second straight contest.
 
"We got the win and I'm happy about that," said HPU head coach Reid Takatsuka. "We didn't play well early, but I was happy that we stepped up and took control of the game."
 
The Sharks, who got scoring from all but one player in the game, were led by junior guard Breanna Mackenzie from Melbourne, Australia/Box Hill who led all scorers with 21 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Senior guard VeAnne Navarro of Modesto, Calif./Modesto Christian, added 11 points with three steals, while senior center Aminata Cole of Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond nearly double-doubled with nine points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Penguins were paced by Sandra Ikeora with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
 
The Sharks shot 40 percent from the floor (33-of-83) and 30 percent from the 3-point arc (10-of-33). HPU held DUC to 30 percent from the floor (17-of-57) and 13 percent from the arc (2-of-16).
 
Neither team shot free throws well, as HPU hit 9-of-21 (43 percent), while DUC connected on 15-of-31 (48 percent).
 
The Sharks dominated the boards, outrebounded the Penguins 60-44.
 
HPU and Dominican battled throughout the first quarter, with the Sharks building a six-point lead before DUC cut it to a bucket at 14-12 after the first period.
 
But the Sharks opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run and never trailed by less than double-digits again, going into the half with a 38-24 advantage.
 
In the third HPU put it away outscoring Dominican 21-9 on the way to winning 85-51.
 
The Sharks will close first semester play on Sunday evening with a contest in the Oahu Classic at St. Francis High Gymnasium. HPU takes on Ursuline of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with tipoff set for 6 p.m.