ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Hawai'i Pacific University led most of the way and overcame a Central Washington rally to beat host CWU 77-68 in the Wildcat Crossover Classic Saturday at Nicholson Pavilion.
The Sharks (1-1) saw the Wildcats (1-1) take a brief third quarter lead before taking control for a second time and holding on for the win.
Junior guard
Brittany Allen of Richlands, Va./Richlands, a transfer from Radford, buried five 3-pointers on her way to a game high 29 points, while junior guard
Janessa Manzano of San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius, added 17 points with six assists and junior guard
Samantha Lambrigtsen of Oregon, Ill./Oregon, added 11 points with six rebounds and five assists. HPU was led on the boards by freshman forward
Jessica Harley of Melbourne, Australia/Caulfield with nine rebounds.
Central Washington got 18 points from Sadie Mensing, 12 points from Jasmin Edwards and a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds from Kaelie Flores.
HPU shot 35 percent from the floor and the 3-point arc (10-of-28), while connecting on 77 percent from the foul line (17-of-22). CWU shot 37 percent from the floor, including 40 percent from the arc (6-of-15), but only 56 percent from the charity stripe (10-of-18).
The Sharks opened the game with a 9-0 run before the Wildcats came back in the second quarter to knot the game three times, the last at 30-30 with 5:42 to play on a 3 from Alexis Pana.
But the Sharks answered with fast break layup from Lambrigtsen that keyed a 9-2 run and the Sharks took a 39-34 advantage into the locker room at the half.
The start of the third found Central Washington go on a 9-2 run to grab the lead at 50-48 with five minutes left in the period on a layup by Flores.
HPU countered with a trey by Allen, and later a pair of Allen free throws for her own 5-0 run. HPU added a three by freshman forward Alyssa Murcucci of Melbourne, Australia on the way to a 56-53 lead at the quarter break.
The Cats came back in the fourth, and swapped the lead with the Sharks four times in the final frame. The Sharks took the lead for the final time on a triple by Allen with 4:47 to play, and when senior forward
Jessi Reeves of Coffs Harbour, Australia nailed a jumper HPU started to roll.
Manzano went on her own seven-point run on the way to the Sharks downing the Wildcats 77-68.
HPU has a few days in the Pacific Northwest before going north of the US border into Canada for the third game of the season opening road trip. The Sharks face 2017 NCAA Division II West Region finalist Simon Fraser on Thursday evening. Tip is slated for 10 a.m. HST (Noon PST).
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