SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University used a 14-0 run to start the second quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish as third seeded HPU defeated sixth seeded Concordia Irvine 65-58 in a women's quarterfinal of the PacWest Conference Tournament at Dominican's Conlan Center Thursday night.
The Sharks (21-8) advances to face second-seeded tournament host Dominican in the semifinals Friday at 3 p.m. HST (5 p.m. PST). The Eagles (10-18) fell to the Sharks for the third time this season.
The Sharks were led by All-PacWest Conference First Teamer
Breanna Mackenzie. The senior from Melbourne, Australia/Box Hill just missed a career-high with 23 points, hitting 10-of-18 from the floor with 2-of-5 from the 3-point arc to go with five rebounds and three steals. PacWest Freshman of the Year
Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary added 12 points with five boards and four steals. All-PacWest Third Team choice
Alysha Marcucci, a sophomore from Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion, added 10 points with a team-high seven rebounds and a blocked shot.
The Eagles Michaela Vanderklugt paced CUI with 19 points and nine rebounds, with Jasmine Rachal added 15 points with seven boards. Kenndey Fulcher collected 10 points and Riley Friauf joined Vanderklugt with nine rebounds.
The Sharks shot 40 percent from the floor (24-of-60), hitting 6-of-16 (38 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU also made 11-of-14 (79 percent) from the free throw line. CUI connected on 37 percent of its shots from the floor (20-of-54), including 4-of-16 (25 percent). The Eagles hit 14-of-20 (70 percent) from the foul line. HPU outrebounded CUI 38-36, suffering 16 turnovers to the Eagles 19.
The Sharks jumped out to an early lead after getting a Mackenzie 3-pointer and held it through the first five minutes of the contest. The Eagles roared back after a pair of Vanderklught free throws that started an 8-0 run to grab the lead, and concluded the quarter on a 13-4 run to lead by six at 19-13.
The Sharks answered back in the second quarter as Mackenzie got a layup to key a 14-0 run capped by a laypu from freshman
Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic to go up 27-19. CUI trimmed the HPU lead back to three before a Baum jumper gave the Sharks a 29-24 lead at intermission.
HPU spread the lead to nine by the end of the third on a jumper from junior
Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt for a 47-38 lead at the break.
The Sharks largest lead came to start the final quarter when All-PacWest Third Teamer
Samantha Lambrigtsen, a senior from Oregon, Ill./Oregon HS, nailed a jumper to go up 49-38. The Eagles cut the Sharks advantage to four points at 51-47 with 5:19 remaining, before HPU responded with and went back up by eight on a Marcucci triple. HPU expanded the lead to 10 again before CUI exchanged points in the final seconds as the Sharks advanced 65-58.
The semifinal game with Dominican will be available to view on a free video webstream from the PacWest Conference available at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/pacwest. The winner of the tournament semifinals play Saturday at 2:30 p.m. HST (4:30 PST) for the PacWest Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
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