HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University recovered from a slow start to totally decimate a previously unbeaten St. Thomas Aquinas 76-48 on Friday afternoon in the Oahu Thanksgiving Classic played at St. Francis School.
 
The Sharks (1-2) won for the first time this season after a mainland classic last week. The Spartans (3-1) lost for the first time since last season's Division II East Region semifinals.
 
 "I'm so proud of our team. We came out today like we wanted to make a point," said HPU head coach Reid Takatsuka. "St. Thomas Aquinas is a quality team and we took care of business."
 
The Sharks had four players score in double-figures led by senior guard Samantha Lambrigtsen of Oregon, Ill./Oregon HS with a game-high 17 points, along with six rebounds. Junior guard Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt and freshman guard Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary each added 13 points with Rivera grabbing five boards, while Baum had six boards, a game-high five assists and a block. Freshman guard Lauryn Hippolite of Nelson, New Zealand/Middle Grange collected 12 points with four assists. Sophomore forward Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion and freshman guard Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic each had a game-high seven rebounds.
 
The Spartans were led by Emily Preston with 17 points and six rebounds with a block. Melissa Sadler came off the bench with 11 points for STAC.
 
HPU connected on 46 percent of its shots from the field (25-of-55), while hitting 43 percent (12-of-28) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks also made 14-of-19 (74 percent) from the foul line. The Spartans were held to just 28 percent shooting from the floor (17-of-60), including just 3-of-18 (17 percent) from the arc. St. Thomas Aquinas also went 11-of-20 (55 percent) from the free throw line.
 
HPU also dominated the Spartans on the glass, with 46 boards to STAC's 31. The Spartans suffered only 10 turnovers, while the Sharks gave it away 16 times.
 
The Sharks were slow coming out of the gate, but built a 6-3 lead with 5:28 remaining in the first quarter on a Hippolite jumper. But the Spartans rallied with a 7-0 run capped with a 3-pointer from Jillian Lynch to grab a 10-6 lead. It was their largest and last lead.
 
Starting with a layup from Hippolite, HPU went on a 9-0 run in the last two minutes to claim a 15-10 lead after the first quarter.
 
The squads were scoreless in the first three-and-a half minutes of the second quarter when Preston cut the lead to three with a jumper. HPU responded with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes for a 28-14 lead with 2:52 left in the half. HPU wouldn't score again before halftime and the Spartans rallied with a 7-0 run to send the game to intermission at 28-21.
 
HPU built the game back to a 15-point affair in the third quarter on a Baum triple, only to have the Spartans go on an 8-0 run to trim it to seven with 4:28 left in the period on a jumper by Sadler. The Sharks pushed the lead back to 13 on a Lambrigtsen layup to end the quarter up 48-35.
 
But a minute into the fourth, the Sharks bit down hard. A pair of 3's from Rivera and one from Hippolite keyed a 9-0 that pushed the lead to 22 and HPU never looked back. The Sharks held the Spartans scoreless the final two minutes and won 76-48.
 
The Sharks are idle for a week, when the travel to Anchorage, Alaska for the D2 Coast-To-Coast Classic. HPU faces Simon Fraser on Nov. 23 at the Alaska Airlines Center. Tipoff is set for 1:30 HST (2:30 AST).