HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University had five players in double-digit scoring and two near triple-doubles as the nationally ranked Sharks led wire-to-wire in a 75-55 PacWest Conference triumph against Fresno Pacific on Saturday afternoon at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (11-1, 6-0), ranked 14th in the WBCA Division II Coaches poll and 10th in the D2SIDA poll, controlled the game with the Sunbirds (6-7, 3-4) from the tipoff, establishing a double-digit lead in the opening quarter.
 
Sophomore Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic, led the way for the Sharks, collecting 20 points with seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt, added 17 points with two steals. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary, double-doubled with 11 points and 11 rebounds to go with seven assists. Sophomore Ally Bates of Melbourne, Australia/Yarra Valley, just missed a triple-double as well with 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists from the bench. Freshman Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman came off the bench with 10 points.
 
Fresno Pacific was paced by Kate McClard off the bench with 16 points. Jessica Malazarte and Sara Lundqvist each posted 11 points, while Bayli McClard grabbed 10 rebounds with seven points and a blocked shot.
 
HPU hit 42 percent from the field (30-of-72), with just 4-of-22 (18 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 11-of-13 free throws (85 percent). The Sunbirds were held to just 27 percent shooting from the floor (16-of-59). But half of their field goals were triples, hitting 8-of-25 (32 percent). FPU was 15-of-22 (68 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU clobbered the taller Sunbirds on the boards 51-39, and suffered just 11 turnovers to FPU's 17.
 
HPU got the game started on the right foot with junior Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion burying a 3-pointer and Noblett following suit on the next possession for a 6-0 run. Rivera added a layup after a Sunbird score as HPU was up 8-2 early. The Sharks eventually pushed the lead to 15-4 on a Rivera layup with 3:05 in the opening period. FPU answered with an 8-2 run to cut the Sharks advantage to five at 17-12 on fastbreak layup from Ashley Cross with just under a minute remaining. Noblett replied with a layup and after a missed shot, got a pass from Baum for another and made it a 3-point-play with a free throw to give the Sharks a 22-12 lead at the quarter.
 
The Sunbirds once again cut the Sharks lead, this time to seven early in the second quarter, only to have Baum score two free throws to go with a layup and Noblett adding another layup for a 6-0 run to give HPU a double-digit lead for good. A 15-point lead was sliced to 13 as the Sharks took a 35-22 lead into intermission.
 
The Sharks opened the lead up to 20-plus in the third quarter. Bates gave HPU its largest lead at 26 points on a layup with 31 seconds left in the period and closed the quarter with a 61-39 lead.
 
Substituting freely in the final quarter with Cargill keeping the Sharks above the 20-point mark with her strong play as HPU closed the game up 75-55.
 
The Sharks have a showdown contest on Monday night. Point Loma, the only other team that hasn't lost a PacWest Conference game, visits The Shark Tank as HPU's third game in five days. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m.