AZUSA, Calif.  – Hawai'i Pacific University took over the lead in the PacWest Conference by stunning 15th ranked Azusa Pacific 73-69 on Thursday night at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (14-2, 8-1) won their 10th straight and never trailed the Cougars (18-3, 9-2) after the 7:10 mark of the first quarter. The HPU win snapped a seven-game winning streak for APU.
 
 "We shot well tonight and we needed every one," said HPU head coach Reid Takatsuka. "I knew Azusa would put on a run and we had enough to hold them off. I'm proud of how we picked up a great road win."
 
HPU held a 14-point lead after three quarters before the No. 15 Cougars tried to steal it away in the final quarter. APU pulled within two late, but the Sharks never relinquished their lead.
 
Junior guard Samantha Lambrigtsen of Oregon, Ill./High, led the Sharks with 17 points and added five rebounds, while junior guard Janessa Manzano of San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius, added 15 points. Senior forward Jessi Reeves of Coffs Harbour, Australia/John Paul, recorded her double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds to go with two blocks. Junior forward Gabriella Fotu of Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto, posted nine rebounds with seven points with one big block in the contest.
 
Azusa Pacific got 15 points with six boards from Abbigail Goodsell, while Zoe March posted 13 poijnts with four assists and Samantha Huddleston collected 12 points. The Cougars were led on the glass by Casey Wortley and Savanna Hanson with seven rebounds each. Wortley had two of the five APU blocked shots.
 
HPU shot 51 percent from the floor (23-of-45), but hit just 3-of-11 (27 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks nailed 24-of-38 (63 percent) from the foul line. Azusa was held to 37 percent from the field (23-of-63), but was below 30 percent before going 10-of-17 (59 percent) in the fourth quarter. The Cougara hit 8-of-26 from the 3-point arc (31 percent), again nailing 4-of-8 (50 percent) in the final frame. APU also shot 72 percent (15-of-21) from the free throw line. HPU dominated the boards, outrebounding the Cougars 47-26, but the Sharks suffered a season-high 23 turnovers to APU's 12.
 
The Sharks and Cougars swapped the lead early before freshman forward Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion buried a 3-pointer with 7:10 to go up 6-5 and start a 7-0 run. It was the fourth lead change and there would be another. HPU built a 10-point lead in the quarter on a Reeves jumper, but the Cougars answered with a five-point run as HPU carried a 19-14 lead after one.
 
The Sharks opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run, grabbing a 12-point lead on a pair of Manzano free throws with 6:14 to play in the half. The Cougars trimmed the lead back to eight on a Hanson layup with 2:08 to go, but HPU rallied as senior guard Spencer Gray of Centerville, Ohio/Centerville, made two free throws and a layup to start an 8-1 run capped by a Lambrigtsen layup for a 15-point 42-27 halftime lead.
 
After allowing APU to score the first points of the third, the Sharks answered with layups from Manzano and Fotu to build their largest lead of 17 at 46-29 with 7:10 remaining in the quarter. The Cougars again chipped away to get the lead down to 11 before HPU opened the lead back to 16 with 22 seconds to play in the period on a Reeves layup. Huddleston responded with a jumper just before the horn to have the Sharks on top 56-42 after the third.
 
The 15th ranked Cougars, who led the PacWest entering the game, had a charge left.
 
An 8-1 run closed the HPU lead to seven at 57-50 before Manzano buried a 3-pointer to retake a 10-point lead. The Cougars responded with a 7-1 run after that to cut the Sharks advantage to four points at 61-57 with 4:18 to go.
 
The Sharks traded four free throws for Goodsell hitting a layup-free throw 3-point play and a 3-pointer that cut the HPU lead to 65-63 with 3:18 remaining.
 
That's when HPU rallied, getting a jumper from Manzano with 2:22 to go and adding single free throws by Fotu and Lambrigtsen to return to a six point lead with 1:48 left. APU's March responded with a jumper and steal that set up Gina Henderson with a layup to bring it back to a 69-67 HPU advantage with 1:24 left.
 
Reeves put HPU back up by four with a layup then free throws with 20.1 seconds left by Henderson to bring the score back to two at 71-69. Lambrigtsen followed hitting one of two free throws to make it a 72-69 game when the defensive stop of the game came.
 
Following a timeout, the Cougars worked the ball to Casey Wortley at the top of the 3-point arc, but the Sharks Fotu read the play and blocked the 3-pointer from Wortley with Lambrigtsen grabbing the rebound and drawing Henderson's fifth foul with 1.8 seconds remaining. Lambrigtsen missed the first charity toss, but buried the second to give HPU the 73-69 victory.
 
HPU now leads the PacWest by a game in the loss column over Azusa, two games over Dominican and a least three games over the rest of the conference.
 
The Sharks don't have time to celebrate as they close their four-game Southern California road swing on Saturday evening at Biola, a team they defeated at the Blaisdell on November 30. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. HST (5:30 p.m. PST) at Chase Gymnasium.