California Baptist sinks Sharks

The Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball team fell to visiting California Baptist 96-78 early Monday evening at the Neal Blaisdell Arena.

Cassidy Mihalko paced the Lancers (18-3 overall, 11-2 PacWest) with 22 points, while teammates Courtney Nelson and Kamille Diaz added 20 and 19 points as the trio also combined to make nine 3-pointers. California Baptist shot a blistering 56.3 percent from the field and converted 14 of 15 free-throw attempts.

Chenise Peone led the Sharks (17-4, 12-2) with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds while also notching two assists and two blocked shots. HPU point guard Kylie Huerta added 13 points and dished out six assists.

HPU men fall to California Baptist

California Baptist jumped out to a 32-18 lead and the Hawaii Pacific men’s basketball team could not counter as the Lancers fended off the Sharks 64-50 Monday night at the Neal Blaisdell Arena.

Gelaun Wheelwright poured in a game-high 24 points and teammate Michael Smith added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Darry Jones Jr. led HPU (13-7 overall, 8-6 PacWest) with 10 points, while Luke Hager collected nine rebounds.

The Lancers (16-4, 10-3) outscored the Sharks 28-10 in the paint and held HPU scoring threat Justin Long to eight points on 3-for-15 shooting from the field, including two treys.

Coro, Harward net weekly hoops honors

BYU-Hawaii guard Pablo Coro was named PacWest Player of the Week after leading the 17th-ranked Seasiders to two wins over nationally ranked opponents, which vaulted the squad into a tie for first place in the conference.

The senior from Osorno, Chile, averaged 21.5 points and 5.5 assists per game and shot 62.5 percent from the field.

He scored 23 points and drained five 3-pointers against No. 14 Azusa Pacific. He then posted 19 points and seven assists against No. 16 California Baptist. Coro ranks third in the PacWest with 4.3 assists per game.

Ian Harward, BYU-Hawaii’s freshman forward, was named Defender of the Week after posting a career-high four blocks in each of the aforementioned victories.

The Orem, Utah, native ranks fourth in the PacWest with 30 total blocks and 1.6 blocks per game.

HPU tumblers ranked fourth nationally

The Hawaii Pacific acrobatics and tumbling team was ranked fourth in the 2015 National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

HPU trails four-time champion Oregon as well as Baylor and rival Azusa Pacific in the poll.

Under the guidance of 2014 NCATA National Coach of the Year Keenyn Won, the Sharks ended last season with a narrow defeat (280.740-279.665) to Quinnipiac in the quarterfinals of the national championships.

Retuning for the Sharks is Nancy Miceli, who earned NCATA All-American status last year. Miceli was part of the Pyramid Heat One squad that registered the first perfect 10 in program history.

The Sharks open the season with a four-match road trip beginning at Azusa Pacific on Feb. 17. HPU opens its home schedule on March 19 against Fairmont State.

Big West lauds Rainbow Wahine guard King

University of Hawaii junior guard Destiny King was named the Big West Player of the Week in women’s basketball Monday, the first weekly honor of her career.

King averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists to help the Rainbow Wahine earn victories last week over Long Beach State and CSUN. She was a combined 15-for-17 from the free-throw line, hitting a career-high nine against the Matadors.

The victories ran Hawaii’s winning streak to five, the longest in coach Laura Beeman’s three-year tenure. It is the longest winning streak since the 2006-07 season, when the Rainbow Wahine won eight straight.

Hawaii has also won 10 consecutive Big West home games dating back to last season.

King is the second Rainbow Wahine to be voted Player of the Week. In the first week of the season, Morgan Mason was chosen after a solid opening two games on the road at Colorado State and Denver.

U.S. women to host China in volleyball

The top-ranked U.S. Women’s National Team will take on No. 3 China in two USA Volleyball Cup matches June 5 and 6 at the Stan Sheriff Center, USA Volleyball announced Monday.

This will be the second consecutive year that a part of the Cup will be played in Honolulu. Last July, the Americans defeated defending Olympic gold medalist Brazil twice in five sets.

The teams will then play twice in California between June 9 and 11 at sites still to be determined.

"We’re thrilled to bring the Chinese Women’s Team here to compete in 2015," U.S. coach Karch Kiraly said in Monday’s press release. "They’re a strong young team, and we had a battle that tested both teams, in the gold medal match of 2014 FIVB World Championships."

The U.S. won the gold in four sets last October in Italy. China is coached by former U.S. women’s coach Lang Ping.

Ticket information for the Honolulu matches will be announced later.