ST. GEORGE, Utah  – No. 23 Hawai'i Pacific University rallied late in the third quarter, then rolled in the fourth to extend its school record winning streak to 19 games with an 83-72 PacWest Conference victory over Dixie State on Saturday at Burns Arena.
 
The 23rd ranked Sharks (23-2, 17-1) swept all four games of the mainland road trip. The Trailblazers (11-13, 7-10) were eliminated from conference tournament hopes.
 
 "This is a tough place to play, Azusa Pacific lost here earlier this season," said HPU head coach Reid Takatsuka. "Our team stayed together through the rough start and made a charge at the right time. This was a long trip, but we were able to make it worth it."
 
HPU was led by junior guard Samantha Lambrigtsen of Oregon, Ill./Oregon HS, who collected 20 points with eight rebounds. Senior forward Jessi Reeves of Coffs Harbour, Australia/John Paul, chalked up her seventh double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman forward Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion, added 14 points with eight boards and junior guard Janessa Manzano of San Francisco/St. Ignatius, posted 13 points with four assists.
 
Dixie State got 21 points from Taylor Moeaki and 13 points from Keslee Stevenson. Ashley Burge added nine points and joined with Maile Richardson for a team leading six rebounds
 
The Sharks hit just 39 percent from the floor (28-of-72), but shot 50 percent (16-of-32) in the second half. HPU was 7-of-21 (33 percent) from the 3-point arc, but hit 20-of-27 (74 percent) from the foul line. Dixie State hit 41 percent from the floor (26-of-64), including 47 percent (9-of-19) from the arc. The Trailblazers connected on 11-of-15 (73 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU dominated the glass, outrebounding DSU 51-38 and suffered 12 turnovers to the Blazers 14.
 
The Sharks shot 27 percent in the first quarter, but still had an 18-17 lead after Reeves had a layup in the final minute before a Moeaki 3-pointer for Dixie.
 
In the second quarter, the Trailblazers posted a 10-0 run to grab a nine-point advantage. The Sharks chipped away at the lead and tied DSU with 31 second before intermission on a Marcucci layup. But a Moeaki triple with 13 seconds left gave Dixie a 42-39 lead at the half.
 
The third saw the Blazers jump out to a seven-point advantage on a Richardson layup and sport a six-point lead with 1:54 to play in the period. HPU then found a new gear. A pair of Lambrigtsen free throws followed by a Manzano 3-pointer started an 11-0 run to put HPU in front to stay with a 61-56 lead at the break.
 
HPU pushed the advantage to nine with 6:40 to play on a Lambrigtsen layup, and later added an 8-2 run that put the Sharks up 12 on a Manzano 3-pointer. HPU held steady over the final three minutes for the 11-point 83-72 win.
 
The Sharks, who lead the PacWest by one game with two regular season games remaining, return to Honolulu for a first-place showdown with Azusa Pacific on Thursday evening. The Senior Night game tips at 4:30 p.m. at Moanalua High School Gym.