OAKLAND, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University used a strong second half to break open a close game and rolled on to a 75-55 PacWest Conference win over Holy Names on Saturday afternoon at Tobin Gym.
 
The Sharks (7-17, 4-13) got a much needed win to stay in the hunt for a berth in the PacWest Conference Tournament in March. The Hawks (0-21, 0-13), who didn't play in the 2020-21 season because of the pandemic, have now lost 36 straight games.
 
HPU was led by graduate student Julia Razo of Woodland, Calif./St. Francis who just missed a double-double with 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Junior Tavia Rowell of Langley, B.C./Walnut Grove scored 18 points, and junior Avery Cargill from Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman hit five 3-pointers on her way to 17 points.
 
Holy Names got 14 points and eight rebounds from Jazmine Soto, while Alanna Felix and Samantha Lemay-Zambrano each added 10 points.
 
The Sharks connected on 43 percent (28-of-65) from the floor, with half of their field goals from the 3-point arc making 14-of-33 (42 percent). HPU hit 5-of-8 (63 percent) from the foul line. The Hawks shot 41 percent from the floor (23-of-56), with only 2-of-15 (13 percent) from behind the arc. HNU made 7-of-11 (64 percent) from the charity stripe. The Sharks outrebounded the Hawks 34-32, and recorded 13 turnovers to HNU's 23.
 
The Hawks jumped out to an early four point lead in the first four minutes of the contest before Cargill nailed a 3 to start a 10-0 run to put HPU up by six at 16-10 midway through the quarter. HPU pushed the lead to eight after a Razo triple, only to have the Hawks slice back and hit the quarter break down three at 23-20.
 
HNU battled back to tie the game in the second quarter at 25-all, but HPU regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Rowell and launch a 13-2 run to give the Sharks a lead they didn't let slip by. The Hawks got a layup in the final minute of the half as the Sharks led 40-31 at halftime.
 
Holy Names cut the HPU lead to five to start the second half, only to have Cargill pop a pair of triples and Razo add another in a 9-0 run to give the Sharks a double-digit advantage they wouldn't give away. HPU led 55-42 after three.
 
In the final period, the Sharks got a Razo 3 to start a 10-2 run that was capped by a Cargill trey to build a 21-point lead, then went back-and-forth with the Hawks until redshirt freshman Anau Tu'ivai of Pukalani, Hawai'i/Seabury Hall made a layup with 21 seconds remaining to make the final 75-55.
 
The game was the rescheduled contest from Jan. 2 at Honolulu. The two teams play again on Sunday for the regularly scheduled contest, with tipoff set for 11 a.m. HST (1 p.m. PST) at Tobin Gym.