SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Nationally ranked Hawai'i Pacific University hit triple-digits as it rolled over Dominican (Calif.) 103-78 in PacWest Conference action on Monday night at the Conlan Center.
 
The Sharks (9-1, 4-0), ranked 20th in the WBCA Coaches poll and 13th in the D2SIDA poll, used an 18-0 run to close the first quarter and never trail again against the Penguins (3-6, 0-3).
 
The Sharks were led by sophomore Ally Bates of Melbourne, Australia/Yarra Valley who came off the bench for a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt just missed a triple-double with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Sophomore Amy Baum also just missed a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to go with five steals. Freshman Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman scored 15 points.
 
Dominican's Marisa Mondave collected 36 points with four steals, while Brittney Cedeno added 12 points. Nicole Gleeson grabbed nine rebounds with five assists for the Penguins.
 
The Sharks connected on 45 percent of their shots from the floor with season-highs of 38 field goals on 84 attempts. That included a season bests of 16 3-pointers on 43 attempts. HPU shot just 11-of-18 (61 percent) from the foul line. Dominican made 24-of-60 from the field (40 percent), including 8-of-23 (35 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Penguins also shot 61 percent (22-of-36) from the charity stripe. HPU doubled DUC on the boards 63-31, but the Sharks also had 19 turnovers to the Penguins 14.
 
Once again, the Sharks started slow as the Penguins went on a 7-0 run to open the game. The Penguins went up by eight at 14-6 with 5:52 to play in the quarter on a Mondave jumper. That was the last time Dominican would score in the first frame. The Sharks answered with a Rivera 3-pointer that started one of the biggest runs of the season. Bates followed with a layup, then a steal and a layup from Baum and the Sharks hit the throttle. A putback layup from junior Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion gave HPU a 15-14 lead at the 3:38 mark, but the Sharks were only halfway through. Just before the first quarter buzzer, Bates buried a triple and when the horn sounded HPU was up 24-14, completing the 18-0 run.
 
The Penguins closed the gap to six at 27-21 just three minutes into the second quarter, but HPU pushed the lead back to double-digits to stay. A layup by Cargill with 94 seconds left in the half put HPU up by 19 at 47-28 and finished the first half up 14 at 50-36.
 
The teams swapped baskets to start the third before the Sharks struck again, using a 9-0 run capped by a Baum 3-pointer to go up by 23 points. HPU kept the quarter under control, taking a 77-53 advantage into the quarter break.
 
HPU continued to pour it on in the final period, bumping the lead to 32 following a Baum layup, leading 93-61 with 5:53 remaining. The only question was if the Sharks would break 100. That question was answered with 1:18 to play when Rivera nailed a jumper. Junior Makenna Gambee of Hillsboro, Ore./Hillsboro closed the HPU scorebook with a traditional layup and free throw 3-point play as the Sharks won 103-78. The Sharks saw eight of its nine-person bench score in the win.
 
The Sharks have one more contest before taking a holiday break. HPU returns home to face Hope International on Friday evening at 4:30 p.m. at The Shark Tank. The game is designated as an exhibition for both teams.