HONOLULU – Nationally ranked Hawai'i Pacific University never trailed in thumping cross-town rival Chaminade 69-40 in PacWest Conference action on Thursday evening at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (15-1, 10-0), ranked 11th in both the WBCA Division II Coaches poll and D2SIDA poll, rolled their winning streak to 11 games in dumping the Silverswords (3-14, 3-8) to close a six-game homestand.
 
HPU was led by sophomore Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic, with 19 points and eight rebounds, a block and two steals. Senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt, chalked up 15 points and freshman Theresa Spatzier of Heidelberg, Germany/St. Raphael came off the bench with 12 points and six boards. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary, also grabbed eight rebounds for the Sharks.
 
The Silverswords picked up 12 points from Destiny Castro to go with two steals. Cheyenne Ardona scored 11 points and led the game with nine rebounds.
 
HPU shot 41 percent for the game (26-of-64), including 10-of-28 (36 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 7-of-9 free throws. CUH was held to just 27 percent (17-of-63) from the floor, and only 1-of-15 (7 percent) from the arc. The Swords were 5-of-8 (63 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded CUH 45-38 and suffered 10 turnovers to the Swords 12.
 
The Sharks jumped in front on their first shot when Rivera buried a 3-pointer 12 seconds into the game. A free throw and later a layup from Baum put HPU up 6-0. The Sharks added another 7-0 run after Chaminade's first score for a 13-2 overall run on a Noblett triple with 2:31 to play. HPU answered another Sword score with a final 6-0 run to end the quarter up 19-4 on a Spatzier layup and HPU held a double-digit lead the rest of the night.
 
The Sharks outscored the Swords 23-9 in the second quarter to establish a 20+ lead and held a 42-13 advantage at intermission.
 
The teams played even in the second half, with both squads scoring eight in the third quarter and 19 in the fourth as HPU won by 29 69-40.
 
The Sharks go on a quick two-game California road trip starting on Sunday. HPU visits Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco to meet Academy of Art for an 11 a.m. HST (1 p.m. PST) tipoff.