BELMONT, Calif. – Nationally ranked Hawai'i Pacific University used a strong defense to remain unbeaten in PacWest Conference play with a 59-48 victory over Notre Dame de Namur at Gleason Gym.
 
The Sharks (7-1, 2-0), ranked 20th in the WBCA Coaches poll and 13th in the D2SIDA poll, overcame a sluggish first quarter before taking over in the second in downing the Argonauts (2-7, 0-3).
 
Senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt and sophomore Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic led the Sharks with 14 points each, with Noblett adding eight rebounds. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary collected 12 points with a team-high nine rebounds, a block and a steal.
 
NDNU got 15 points from Auren Isaacson, and a double-double from Cheyenne Jankulovsk with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
 
HPU shot just 31 percent from the floor (18-of-59), and 24 percent (7-of-29) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks went 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the foul line. NDNU was held to just 26 percent from the field (17-of-65), scoring 5-of-20 (25 percent) from the arc. The Argos were 9-of-12 (75 percent) from the charity stripe. The Argos outrebounded the Sharks 50-43, but HPU suffered just seven turnovers to NDNU's 10.
 
HPU and NDNU played a tight first quarter, with three ties and five lead changes. Neither team led by more than two until the end of the period. After a 3-pointer by Rivera with 1:21 in the first, NDNU went on a 5-0 run capped by Marlene Salazar's 3-pointer with nine seconds left to give the Argos a 12-9 lead at the quarter break. It would by their last lead.
 
After being fired up at the break, HPU opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run with Noblett opening the frame and tie the game with a 3-pointer and Rivera capping it with a jumper with 6:36 to play in the half. HPU allowed the Argos just four points in the quarter in claiming a 23-16 lead at intermission.
 
The teams played nearly even through most of the third before HPU nailed a trio of 3-pointers in back-to-back-to-back fashion with two by Baum and a third by freshman Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman gave a 15-point lead. The Sharks kept that lead following a layup from freshman Theresa Spatzier of Heidelberg, Germany/St. Raphael for a 44-29 lead after three.
 
HPU played steady through the first part of the final period, again putting up a 15-point advantage with Rivera triple with just under seven minutes remaining. As the Sharks continued to try to run out the clock, the Argos made a final push to close the HPU lead to seven at 55-48 with 32 seconds remaining. HPU held tight defensively while making 4-of-6 from the line in the last 30 seconds to hold onto the 59-48 victory.
 
The Sharks have one game remaining on their Bay Area trip. They visit Dominican in the Conlan Center on Monday evening. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. HST (5:30 p.m. PST).