ANCHORAGE, Alaska —Hawai'i Pacific University built an eight-point second quarter lead on No. 2 Alaska Anchorage before going more than 19 minutes without a field goal as the Sharks fell to the Seawolves 63-56 in the NCAA Division II West Region quarterfinals on Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Sharks (21-7) made a valiant comeback attempt, but had dug themselves a hole too deep. The Seawolves (30-1) escaped a scrappy eighth seed who nearly got the top ranked team in the region.
"I'm super proud of our team, super proud of our effort tonight," said HPU head coach
Reid Takatsuka. "We have a good team, one that can compete with anyone and we proved it tonight."
The Sharks gave the second ranked Seawolves all they wanted, but HPU stumbled during a 19-plus minute stretch from 7:56 in the second quarter to 8:23 in the fourth quarter. HPU couldn't buy a field goal in that stretch, going 0-for-25 and scoring just 8-of-11 free throws in that time.
Then HPU cut UAA's 16-point lead to four with 19 seconds left, but it wasn't enough.
The Sharks were led by the play of senior guard
Spencer Gray of Centerville, Ohio/Centerville, who collected 15 points with four assists. Junior guard
Breanna Mackenzie of Melbourne, Australia/Box Hill came off the bench with 12 points and five rebounds. Senior center
Aminata Cole from Anchorage's Dimond High School, came home to score 10 points and grab a game-high six rebounds. Sophomore forward
Gabriella Fotu of Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto and junior center
Sarah Liva of Mililani, Hawai'i/Mililani also grabbed six boards.
The Seawolves got 23 points from Autummn Williams and 15 points from Tara Thompson. Sierra Afoa and Kiki Robertson grabbed six rebounds for UAA.
Things looked bright for HPU during most of the first half.
After suffering a 7-0 run by Alaska Anchorage, the Sharks got a layup from Cole to start an 8-0 run and take the lead. The teams exchanged the lead before the Seawolves tied the contest at 13 on an Afoa layup. That's when the Sharks made another run, getting a layup from Cole to start it HPU went on a 7-2 run to end the quarter up 20-15.
UAA got a free throw to cut the lead to four when the Sharks got their last field goal until the fourth quarter by Gray. After two free throws by Williams, HPU got two free throws from Cole and two from
VeAnne Navarro to take a 26-18 lead with 5:58 to play. Unfortunately for the Sharks, it would be the last points they would score in the half.
UAA chipped away at the HPU lead, pulling within two at 26-24 a minute before halftime. After missed shots by the Sharks, the Seawolves and the Sharks again, Alaska Anchorage had a final attempt before intermission. Williams found herself open for a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half and drained it to complete a 9-0 run given the Seawolves the lead at 27-26 at the half, a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The third quarter found the Sharks falling deeper in the hole offensively, but holding some ground defensively. The Seawolves outscored HPU 16-4 for a 25-4 run since the middle of the second quarter and a 43-30 advantage after three quarters.
UAA extended the lead to 16 with a 3-pointer by Thompson before the Sharks came alive. Liva hit a layup with 8:23 to play, then followed it with a layup by Gray and a free throw by Navarro.
Despite the Seawolves answering, HPU went on a 9-3 run to get under a 10-point differential. UAA got it back up to 11 with 3:13 to go on another Thompson 3, and the Sharks made a move again.
Mackenzie hit a 3-pointer, then Fotu followed as the Sharks went on a 10-3 run and trailed by four at 60-56 on Cole's final layup with 19 seconds to go.
But needing to foul to get the ball back, the Sharks allowed Williams and Afoa to go 3-of-4 from the line and get an offensive rebound to end the season as UAA won 63-56.
The Sharks did hold No. 2 Alaska Anchorage to its lowest third-lowest scoring total of the season and the lowest against a Division II team.
The 2016-17 Sharks had the second-best season in school history at 21-7 as HPU earned its first at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament after gaining two automatic qualifications in 2010 and 2015.
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