HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University snapped No. 25 Azusa Pacific's 14-game winning streak by grabbing a first quarter lead and never giving back in an 81-72 PacWest Conference victory Wednesday night at Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
 
The Sharks (14-5, 12-1) chalked up their seventh straight win and their 13th in the last 14 games. The 25th ranked Cougars (17-4, 14-1) lost their first PacWest game this season as the 14-game win streak was snapped.
 
HPU used a 7-0 first quarter run to reverse a four-point deficit to a three-point lead and the Sharks never trailed again.
 
Sophomore Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion led the Sharks with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, to go with four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Senior Samantha Lambrightsen of Oregon, Ill./Oregon HS scored six points, while senior Breanna Mackenzie of Melbourne, Australia/Box Hill chipped in 12 points with six rebounds and freshman Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic added 11 points with six boards. Freshman Alton McKenzie  of Sammamish, Wash./Bellarmine Prep grabbed six boards with a block and six points.
 
Savanna Hanson led Azusa with a game-high 21 points with two blocks and two rebounds. Sister Daylee Hanson added 15 points with four steals, while Laura Pranger also scored 15 points with two blocks and two steals. Rachel Bozlee posted 12 points. Samantha Huddleston did not score, but led all rebounders with eight boards.
 
HPU shot 49 percent (28-of-57) from the floor, hitting 9-of-18 (50 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks hit 16-of-19 (84 percent) from the foul line. APU was held to 37 percent (22-of-59) from the field, and made 8-of-21 (38 percent) from the arc. The Cougars connected on 20-of-25 of their free throws (80 percent). HPU beat APU on the boards 35-31, but turned the ball over 17 times to the Cougars 13.
 
Azusa Pacific jumped out to a 4-0 lead before a Marcucci layup and an Alton jumper in the lane tied the game at 4. Savanna Hanson pushed APU back to a lead only to have Alton get a layup and Lambrightsen adding two free throws to tie the game at 8-all. A free throw from Mackenzie put HPU on top 9-8 with 4:41 remaining in the quarter, followed by another Alton layup to lead 11-8 lead with the 7-0 run. HPU stretched it out to a 15-6 run to take a 19-11 lead. The Sharks held on for a 23-16 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Sharks opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run, keyed by a jumper from sophomore Makenna Gambee of Hillsboro, Ore./Hillsboro and a Marcucci trey. The Sharks ended the run with a 15-point 33-18 lead with 7:00 to play in the half. The Cougars trimmed the lead with to eight before junior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt hit a jumper with 46 seconds remaining to take a 45-35 lead into halftime.
 
The Sharks went back up by 15 early in the third quarter on another Marcucci triple, but the Cougars used a 9-2 run capped by a Laura Pranger layup to cut the lead to eight. After the teams swapped scores, Pranger hit a 3-pointer with 3:00 left in the quarter to slash the lead to seven at 60-53. The Cougars and Sharks parried until a pair of Daylee Hanson free throws to end the quarter to close the gap to five at 62-57.
 
HPU opened the final quarter on a 5-2 to take a 10-point lead on a Baum 3-pointer, then stretched it out to an 11-point advantage. The Cougars and Sharks continued to exchange scores with HPU gaining a 12-point, 79-67 lead with 4:03 to play after a Mackenzie layup. The teams swapped scores as HPU maintained an 81-70 lead with 2:53 to play. The Sharks didn't score again, but held the No. 25 Cougars scoreless until a pair of free throws by Savanna Hanson with four seconds remaining as the Sharks came through with an 81-72 triumph.
 
The triumph opened a five-game homestand for the Sharks. Next up is Biola on Saturday afternoon in a 1 p.m. contest at the Blaisdell.