HONOLULU – No. 24 Hawai'i Pacific University needed a few minutes in the first quarter to get going, but then kicked it into high gear as the Sharks clubbed Hawai'i Hilo 75-36 in PacWest Conference play on Tuesday night at Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (19-2, 13-1) extended their school record winning streak to 15 games, while the Vulcans (6-10, 4-9) lost for the fifth straight game.
 
 "We started out tight and we had to regroup early," said HPU head coach Reid Takatsuka. "Once we focused on the game at hand, we played hard and took care of business."
 
HPU was paced by the play of senior forward Jessi Reeves of Coffs Harbour, Australia/John Paul, who posted her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Janessa Manzano of San Francisco/St. Ignatius chipped in 12 points with two blocks. Junior guard Samantha Lambrigtsen of Oregon, Ill./Oregon HS, freshman forward Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion, and freshman forward Jessica Harley of Melbourne, Australia/Caulfield Grammar, each scored 10 points with Lambrightsen grabbing seven rebounds.
 
UH Hilo was led by Danielle Dacosta with 11 points, while Allie Navarette chalked up 10 points and Patience Taylor pulled down seven rebounds with four points.
 
The Sharks shot 47.5 percent from the field (28-of-59), including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU also connected on 10-of-14 (71 percent) from the foul line. The Sharks held the Vulcans to just 28.6 percent from the floor (12-of-42), with only 1-of-10 (10 percent) from the arc. UHH made 11-of-18 shots from the charity stripe. The Sharks dominated the boards 44-24 and suffered 12 turnovers to the Vulcans 17.
 
The Sharks came out of the gates slowly, allowing the Vulcans to swap scores and take an 8-6 lead with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter on a Dacosta jumper in the lane. Neither team could score in the next two minutes until Reeves hit a pair of free throws at the 2:22 mark. That started an 8-0 run as the Sharks led 14-8 to at the quarter break.
 
But the Sharks weren't done on the run, opening the second with consecutive layups from Harley and Reeves for a 12-0 run. After giving up a layup to the Vulcans Alyssa Movchan, HPU rallied with a jumper from junior forward Gabriella Fotu of Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt to go up by double-digits.
 
After another Movchan layup, the Sharks got back-to-back-to-back triples from Marcucci, Rivera and Manzano as part of a 12-0 run before UHH's Sara Shimizu's free throw cut the Shark advantage to 22 at the half 35-13.
 
HPU extended the lead in the third quarter, building a 55-26 advantage at the end of period on a Lambrigtsen layup.
 
The Sharks continued to extend the lead through the final frame, going up by 41 points on a Lambrigtsen 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining. Dacosta capped the scoring with a Vulcan layup to close the game with a 39-point win at 75-36 in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge contest.
 
The No. 24 Sharks closed a four-game homestand with the win and will next travel to the mainland for a four-game road swing starting on Saturday at Fresno Pacific. Tipoff is slated for 12:30 p.m. HST (2:30 p.m. PST).