HONOLULU – The Hawai'i Pacific University women led for all but 25 seconds of Sunday afternoon's PacWest Conference game as HPU trounced Academy of Art 76-45 at Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (167-6, 15-2) trailed at 3-2 when the Urban Knights (3-17, 2-15) hit a 3-pointer for its first score for a 3-2 before HPU answered with a pair of short jumpers from freshman Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic and never trailed again. HPU collected its 10th win in their last 11 games.
 
Sophomore McKenzie Alton of Sammamish, Wash./Bellarmine Prep, led the Sharks in scoring. Alton came off the bench in the third quarter to score 18 points in her nine minutes of playing time, hitting 7-of-7 shots from the floor, including 4-of-4 3-point field goals. Freshman Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary just missed a triple-double for the second straight game with 10 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Sophomore Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion scored 14 points with five assists and a steal, with senior Breanna Mackenzie of Melbourne, Australia/Box Hill posting 12 points and seven rebounds. Senior Samantha Lambrigtsen of Oregon, Ill./Oregon HS added 10 points as well.
 
ARTU was paced by Lily Perkins with a game-high 21 points as they only Urban Knight in double figures. Ines Medina posted nine points with six rebounds, with Megan Jefferson adding eight points and seven boards, and Chanel Stuart rounding out the scoring with seven points and three assists.
 
HPU shot an impressive 53 percent (31-of-59) from the floor, with 10-of-24 shots landing (42 percent) from beyond 3-point arc. The Shark connected on 4-of-6 free throws (67 percent). ARTU hit 37 percent from the field (14-of-38), including 3-of-9 (33 percent) from the arc. The Urban Knights made 14-of-18 (78 percent) of their shots from the charity stripe.
 
HPU opened the contest with a fast break layup from Mackenzie, but fell behind when Ines Medina hit one of her three 3-pointers to put ARTU up 3-2. But HPU quickly answered with the two Noblett jumpers and never trailed again. The Sharks used a Lambrigtsen layup to lead by nine, but it was ansered by a Jefferson layup to send the Sharks to the quarter up 18-11.
 
The second quarter saw the team parry and the Knights pulled within two at on free throws by Stuart with 2:28 in the half. Lambrigtsen followed with a pair of layups and a 3-point play free throw, and  Marcucci busted a trey for an 8-0 run headed to halftime  up 33-23. HPU led by double-digits the rest of the way.
 
The Sharks started the third quarter with a 14-2 run to open up a 22-point lead. The last basket of the run was the first score of the day for Alton. In the last two minutes of the quarter, Alton hit consecutive treys to start a 10-2 run that was capped by another Alton triple just before the quarter's end for a 30-point 63-33 advantage.
 
Just after the fourth quarter start, Alton made her fourth consecutive 3-pointer and HPU controlled the clock after that. When the dust settled, HPU finished with a 76-45 win to close the five-game homestand.
 
The Sharks travel to Southern California for a four-game PacWest Conference swing starting this coming weekend. HPU visits PacWest leader Azusa Pacific on Saturday in a contest featured as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase that will be nationally live streamed on ESPN3.com. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. HST (5:30 p.m. PST) at the Felix Event Center.