HONOLULU  –  The three-time defending PacWest Conference Champion Hawai'i Pacific University women had posted a statement victory to open the season on Sunday night, defeating the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine 82-74 at Simplify Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The Sharks (1-0) defeated Hawai'i (0-1) for the first time in program history and became the state's first Division II program to best the Division I Wahine in 27 tries.
 
"I'm extremely proud of our team and the young ladies in our program," said head coach Reid Takatsuka. "They've been working hard and hanging in there and it paid off tonight. It's one of the biggest wins in our program's history."
 
The Sharks ran their school-record winning streak to 26 games, as their 25-game streak continued from last season when the 2019-20 campaign was halted due to the COVID pandemic. The victory was also the 197th for Takatsuka, the winningest active collegiate coach in Hawai'i (197-64).
 
The Sharks were led by junior All-American Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary, who scored a career-high 28 points to go with nine assists and five steals. Senior transfer Olivia West of Launceston, Australia/Templestowe added 22 points on the strength of five 3-pointers, while sophomore Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman tallied 14 points with a team-high six rebounds.
 
Hawai'i got 21 points and a game-high nine rebounds from Amy Atwell, with Daejah Phillips collecting 11 points, with Jadynn Alexander 10 points with six boards.
 
HPU shot 40 percent from the floor (29-of-72), including knocking down 15-of-33 3-point field goals (46 percent). The Sharks also shot 60 percent from the foul line (9-of-15). The Wahine hit 45 percent from the field (24-of-53), and 31 percent from the arc (5-of-16). UH made 21-of-30 (70 percent) from the charity stripe. UH dominated the boards 44-to-30, but HPU suffered only 11 turnover while forcing UH into 20.
 
The game of runs featured 10 lead changes and seven ties.
 
After holding a 3-point lead at the first quarter break, UH carried a five-point advantage with 5:43 remaining in the half before Cargill hit three 3-pointers in a 17-7 run that gave the Sharks a 39-34 lead when Baum nailed a 3-pointer at the halftime horn.
 
HPU extended the lead in the third to 10 on a Bates triple with 9:04 left before the Rainbow Wahine made its move. UH used free throws to key a 13-0 run and eventually built its lead to five at 51-46 on an Alexander layup with 3:45 in the period.
 
The Sharks replied a minute later with a West 3-pointer and a Baum layup that not only keyed their own 13-0 run as part of a 16-1 rally in the last 2:24 of the quarter, capped by another 3-point buzzer beater by Baum to give HPU its largest lead at 62-52.
 
In the fourth quarter, the squads swapped scores, cutting the Sharks lead to eight when the Wahine made a 10-0 run to grab a 67-65 advantage with an Alexander layup with 5:45 remaining.
 
Baum got one point back with a free throw a minute later and a Marcucci 3-pointer for the 69-67 lead. Alexander added a pair of free throws to knot the score at 69 with 2:51 remaining.
 
HPU responded with a turnaround jumper in the lane from senior Makenna Gambee of Hillsboro, Ore./Hillsboro and Cargill buried her fourth triple of the game to put the Sharks ahead to stay 74-69. UH posted a jumper from Atwell only to have Baum rule the stretch, converting a traditional layup-free throw 3-point play and later dropping in three more in the final seconds in leading HPU to the 82-74 win.
 
The game is the only one on the Sharks schedule thus far this season. HPU was 29-1 when the season was halted last March and was ranked No. 3 nationally.