HILO, Hawai'i  – No. 5 Hawai'i Pacific University extended their record winning streak to 21 straight in a 91-56 PacWest Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
 
The PacWest Champion Sharks (25-1, 20-0), ranked fifth in both the WBCA Division II Coaches and D2SIDA polls, became the second team in conference history to win 20 league games with the win over the Vulcans (9-15, 8-12).
 
Sharks senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt led HPU with 22 points, her ninth 20-plus game this season. Sophomore Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic tallied 18 points, while freshman Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman came off the bench with 10 points and freshman Theresa Spatzier of Heidelberg, Germany/St. Raphael added 10 points off the pine. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary posted a game-high 13 rebounds, while scoring four points with four assists. It's Baum's eighth double-digit rebound game of the year.
 
The Vulcans were led by Allie Navarette with 24 points and eight rebounds. Chyann Gabriel posted eight points with seven boards and Kim Schmelz also added eight points.
 
HPU shot 55 percent from the floor (37-of-67), including 8-of-26 (31 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 9-of-16 (56 percent) of their free throws. UH Hilo was held to 33 percent from the field (18-of-54), and did not make a 3-pointer in nine attempts. The Vulcans made 20-of-28 (71 percent) shots from the charity stripe. HPU dominated the glass 40-to-26, and suffered 11 turnovers to UHH's 13.
 
The Vulcans and Sharks battled through five ties and swapped the lead through the first 4:20 of the contest when Noblett tied the game at 10-10 on a layup in the first quarter. After a defensive stop, the Sharks took the lead they wouldn't give up on a Rivera 3-pointer with 5:04 to play in the first as part of a 9-1 run. The Sharks built an 11-point lead during the quarter before settling for a nine-point 28-19 lead at the quarter horn.
 
The Sharks opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes capped by a triple from Cargill. HPU expanded the lead to 26 points on a Rivera layup with about a minute left before the Vulcans trimmed the lead to 48-26 at halftime.
 
The Sharks continued the roll into the second half, never leading by less than 20 and pulling out to a 33-point lead when Baum hit a jumper in the paint with 25 seconds remaining in the third to hold a 72-39 lead at the break.
 
The HPU lead reached 39-points with 5:53 left as freshman Maja Leidefors of Jonkoping, Sweden/Sandagymnasiet converted a layup, but the Vulcans came back to make the final 91-56 on the UHH senior day.
 
The Sharks have two games remaining in the regular season, both in Honolulu. HPU visits cross-town rival Chaminade on Tuesday at McCabe Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m., then closes the season next Saturday with a rematch against UH Hilo at The Shark Tank. The Senior Day contest starts at 1 p.m.