HONOLULU  –  Hawai'i Pacific University entered the game with a new No. 3 national ranking and left no doubt that it was deserved as HPU dominated cross-town rival Chaminade 88-54 in PacWest Conference action Tuesday night at McCabe Gymnasium.
 
The PacWest Champion Sharks (25-1, 20-0), now third in both the WBCA Division II Coaches and D2SIDA polls, extended their school-record winning streak to 22 games with the win against the Silverswords (4-23, 4-17) that's a part of the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
 
Sophomore Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic scored a career-high 29 points to go with six rebounds and a block to lead the Sharks. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt added 14 points.
 
Chaminade got 19 points and eight rebounds from Destiny Castro. Cheyenne Ardona collected 12 points and seven boards.
 
HPU shot 44 percent from the floor (27-of-61), including 8-of-21 (38 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks hit 26-of-32 (81 percent) from the free throw line. CUH was held to 29 percent (16-of-55) from the field, including 3-of-22 (14 percent) from the arc. The Swords made 19-of-24 (79 percent) of their shots from the charity stripe. The Sharks outrebounded CUH 40-to-28, and suffered just 11 turnovers to the Swords 17.
 
The first quarter was exciting one as the teams swapped the lead five times with two ties. HPU went on a 10-0 run with five free throws and a 3-pointer from freshman Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman on the way to a 13-4 lead. But the Swords returned the favor with their own 10-0 run for a 14-13 lead with eight seconds before the quarter. That was just enough time for the Sharks. After having the ball knocked away with 1.4 left in the period, the ball was inbounded to Baum who buried a 26-foot 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded for a 16-14 lead.
 
Chaminade tied the game at 16 on the first possession of the second before HPU used a 3-pointer from sophomore Ally Bates of Melbourne, Australia/Yarra Valley to key a 15-2 run and the Sharks lead never dipped from double-digits. The Sharks used a 14-4 run to close the half that featured triples from Rivera and Noblett that gave HPU a 45-25 halftime advantage.
 
The Sharks increased their lead in the third quarter and pushed the lead to 30-plus during the final period for the 88-54 win.
 
The Sharks close the regular season with Senior Day on Saturday afternoon when Hawai'i Hilo visits The Shark Tank for a 1 p.m. contest.