HILO, HAWAI'I – The No. 2/4 Hawai'i Pacific University women ran their winning streak to 35 games and clinched the PacWest Hawai'i Pod title with a 68-49 win over Hawai'i Hilo on Wednesday afternoon at Vulcan Gym.
 
The Sharks (10-0, 9-0), ranked second in the D2SIDA poll and fourth in the WBCA Division II poll, spotted the Vulcans (4-5, 4-5) a 3-0 lead before going on an 18-4 run and never looked back.
 
The Sharks were led by junior All-American Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary, who posted game-highs with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Junior Ally Bates of Melbourne, Australia/Yarra Valley, posted 16 points with eight rebounds and senior Alysha Marcucci of Yarragon, Australia/Marist-Sion, added 13 points with two blocked shots. Sophomore Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman also grabbed nine boards for the Sharks.
 
UH Hilo was led by Kim Schmelz with 11 points and Mandi Kawaha with 10 points, while Malia Lee added eight points with nine rebounds.
 
HPU shot just 39 percent from the floor (26-of-66), including 12-of-36 3-point field goals (33 percent). The Sharks made 4-of-6 free throws (67 percent). UH Hilo hit to 38 percent from the field (19-of-50), and 4-of-12 (33 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Vulcans coverted just 7-of-14 (50 percent) of their foul shots. HPU crushed the Vulcans on the boards 45-32, and turned the ball over 10 times to UHH's 13.
 
The Vulcans opened the game making three-of-four free throws for the 3-0 lead before Baum followed making one-of-two from the line to get on the board. Then Bates buried her first 3-pointer off a UHH turnover and the Sharks never trailed again. HPU pushed it to an 8-1 run and on to the 15-4 run to take control of the contest. The teams swapped baskets and Bates fast break from Baum, HPU took an 11-point 20-9 lead to the quarter break.
 
UHH played HPU tight in the second, cutting the lead to seven twice before the Sharks got a short jumper from redshirt sophomore Kaylee Berry of San Diego, Calif./La Costa Canyon and a fast break 3 from Marcucci to key an 11-2 run and extend the lead. The two squads swapped 3-pointers and the Vulcans added a layup as HPU took a 35-22 lead into halftime.
 
The game stayed even until midway through the quarter when Marcucci's layup followed by a Baum 3-pointer and a traditional layup, free throw 3-point play had the Sharks rolling on a 10-0 run to close the quarter up 53-32.
 
HPU and UHH both were steady in the final frame, trading scores until the final horn with the Sharks up 68-49.
 
The two teams face each other for the last scheduled time on Thursday afternoon. The contest at Vulcan Gym tips at noon.