IRVINE, Calif. – Defending PacWest Conference Tournament Champion Hawai'i Pacific University was voted to finish second in the conference by the league's head coaches in the annual PacWest Women's Basketball Poll released on Tuesday.
 
Additionally, HPU junior Alysha Marcucci and Amy Baum were named to the six-member Preseason All-PacWest Team.
 
The Sharks who were 23-9 overall, 18-4 PacWest in 2018-19, received one first place vote and totaled 124 points in the coaches poll. Azusa Pacific, who lost to HPU 75-68 in the PacWest Tournament Championship game, was tabbed the top team with eight first place votes and 139 points. The Cougars won PacWest Conference regular season championship at 21-1 in the league with a 28-6 overall record. Point Loma (19-11, 17-5) collected 120 points in third place and Fresno Pacific (19-10, 15-7) was fourth with 96 points.
 
Dominican (Calif.) (21-7, 18-4) received 86 points for fifth in the poll, with Concordia Irvine (10-18, 9-13) taking 82 points for sixth. Biola (11-17, 9-13) is seventh with 79 points, Academy of Art (4-21, 3-19) eighth with 62 points, Chaminade (7-19, 6-16) ninth with 49 points and Hawai'i Hilo (8-18, 5-17) 10th with 40 points. Holy Names (3-25, 3-19) and Notre Dame de Namur (9-17, 8-14) tied for 11th in the poll with 26 points each.
 
Junior guard Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion and sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary were chosen to the Preseason All-PacWest Team for the first time.
 
Marcucci, a two-time All-PacWest Conference and All-PacWest Tournament selection, is the Sharks leading return scorer who averaged 14.1 points, along with 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocked shots a game last season. She shots .383 from the floor, including .336 from the 3-point arc where she averaged 2.5 3-pointers per game. Marcucci set the HPU record for 3-pointers in a game when connecting on eight at Holy Names when she scored a career-high 28 points. She is currently second on the HPU career 3-point field goal list with 138.
 
Baum, the 2019 PacWest Freshman of the Year as well as All-PacWest Conference and All-PacWest Tournament, helped lead the Sharks to the 2019 PacWest Tournament Championship with her 24 points in the title game against Azusa Pacific. She averaged 9.4 points, led the team with 6.6 rebounds, led PacWest with 4.8 assists a game. She shot .429 from the field and .382 from the 3-point arc. Baum twice came within one stat of a triple-double (27 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists against Dominican and 10 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists vs Academy of Art). She was named PacWest Freshman of the Week five times, and was once Defender of the Week.
 
Joining the HPU duo and headlining the Preseason All-PacWest Team is Azusa Pacific senior guard Savanna Hanson who was chosen PacWest Preseason Player of the Year. Her sister, APU senior guard Daylee Hanson, was also named to the team. Chaminade senior guard Destiny Castro and Concordia Irvine junior forward Michaela Vanderklugt are the final members of the team.
 
Coach Reid Takatsuka's Sharks return three starters and a total of six letterwinners from the PacWest Conference Championship Team who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.


The Sharks play their lone exhibition game tonight against the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine at 7:30 p.m. in the Stan Sheriff Center at UH. HPU opens the regular season on Friday, Nov. 8 against Northwest Nazarene to open the Wildcat Crossover Classic in Ellensburg, Wash.
   

 

2019-20 PACWEST PRESEASON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL POLL
	TEAM	POINTS	2018-19 PACWEST RECORD
1.	Azusa Pacific (11)	143	21-1
2.	Hawai'i Pacific (1)	124	18-4
3.	Point Loma	120	17-5
4.	Fresno Pacific	96	15-7
5.	Dominican	86	18-4
6.	Concordia	82	9-13
7.	Biola	79	9-13
8.	Academy of Art	62	3-19
9.	Chaminade	49	6-16
10.	Hawai`i Hilo	40	5-17
11.	Holy Names	26	3-19
11.	Notre Dame de Namur	26	8-14
First-place votes in parenthesis

 
 

2019-20 PRESEASON ALL-PACWEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/Previous School
Amy Baum	Hawai`i Pacific	G	So.	Melbourne, Australia / Rowville Secondary
Destiny Castro	Chaminade	G	Sr.	Talofofo, Guam / Notre Dame
Daylee Hanson	Azusa Pacific	G	Sr.	Edmonds, Wash. / Idaho
Savanna Hanson	Azusa Pacific	G	Sr.	Edmonds, Wash. / Santa Clara
Alysha Marcucci	Hawai`i Pacific	F	Jr.	Melbourne, Australia / Marist-Sion
Michaela Vanderklugt	Concordia	F	Jr.	Antioch, Calif. / Carondelet HS

Preseason Player of the Year: Savanna Hanson, Azusa Pacific