HONOLULU  –  No. 3 Hawai'i Pacific University closed the regular season on a 23-game winning streak as it never trailed in beating in-state rival Hawai'i Hilo 91-57 in PacWest Conference play on Saturday afternoon at The Shark Tank.
 
The PacWest Champion Sharks (27-1, 22-0), became the first team to win 22 PacWest games in downing the Vulcans (10-16, 9-13). HPU also swept all four women's basketball games in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
 
Starr Rivera of Honolulu/Roosevelt, the Sharks lone senior, celebrated Senior Day with a game-high 24 points, hitting 4-of-9 3-pointers. Junior Alysha Marcucci of Melbourne, Australia/Marist-Sion, just missed a double-double of 19 points with nine rebounds, while sophomore Ally Bates of Melbourne, Australia/Yarra Valley came off the bench to just miss a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds and sophomore Abbey Noblett of Morwell, Australia/Lavalla Catholic scored 13 points with six boards. Sophomore Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary just missed a triple-double with eight points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.
 
The Vulcans were led by Allie Navarette with 15 points and Mandi Kawaha with 13 points. Jessica Goodluck came off the bench with seven rebounds to lead UH Hilo.
 
HPU shot 46 percent from the floor (29-of-63), including knocking down 15-of-30 3-point field goals (50 percent). The Sharks also shot 82 percent from the foul line (18-of-22). The Vulcans were held to 34 percent from the field (20-of-59), 23 percent from the arc (5-of-22). UHH made 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU dominated the boards 46-to-31, with 12 turnovers to the Vulcans 15.
 
The Sharks jumped out with a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Noblett, then turned it into an 18-6 run for an early 12-point lead. The Vulcans responded a bit closing the quarter on a free throw by Makayla Tablit that trimmed the HPU lead to 21-13 after one.
 
HPU returned to a double-digit lead for good, on a triple from freshman Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman. The Sharks followed with a layup from Marcucci to go on an 14-4 run that was capped by a Rivera 3-ball to take a 40-22 head into halftime.
 
The Sharks continued their attack, building the lead out to 29 points in the third quarter before settling for a 69-42 lead after three quarters.
 
The final period saw the advantage pushed to better than 30 points as HPU kept directing the ball to senior Rivera who punctuated her final regular season game with a 3-pointer with eight seconds to play for a final 34-advantage at 91-57.
 
The Sharks, the top team in the region, advances to the PacWest Conference Tournament as the top seed. The two-time defending tournament champs have a first round bye and will play their first game in the semifinals on Friday at 12:45 p.m. HST (2:45 p.m. PST) against the winner of the first round game between fourth-seeded Biola and fifth-seeded Point Loma. The tournament is at the Felix Event Center, hosted by Azusa Pacific.