Hawaii Pacific clinched the outright PacWest Conference women’s basketball regular-season championship with a 98-83 win over Point Loma on Monday in San Diego.
HPU senior Starr Rivera tied a program record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 26 points and the Sharks (24-1, 19-0 PWC) ran their winning streak to a school-record 20 games with the victory over the Sea Lions (14-10, 10-8). Avery Cargill added six 3-pointers and the Sharks set school records with 21 3-pointers made in 53 attempts.
>> Chaminade closed a five-game road trip with a 76-60 loss to Fresno Pacific on Monday in Fresno, Calif. Destiny Castro led the Silverswords (4-22, 4-16) with 25 points. She also had six rebounds and three steals.
Earlier on Monday, Castro was named the PacWest Defender of the Week after collecting 12 steals, 14 defensive rebounds and five blocked shots over three games last week. The 5-foot-6 senior raised her steals total to 85 this season, breaking the school record she set last year.
Chaminade falls in final seconds
Fresno Pacific’s Aamondae Coleman hit a free throw with less than a second left to give the Sunbirds a 77-76 win over the Chaminade men’s basketball team on Monday in Fresno, Calif.
Eliet Donley and Kevin Kremer led the Silverswords (15-10, 13-7 PacWest) with 14 points each. Fresno Pacific (10-16, 8-12) tied the game with a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left. After Chaminade missed a layup in the final seconds, Donley was called for a foul, leading to the decisive free throw for Coleman, who finished with a game-high 26 points.
>> Hawaii Pacific’s Ronald Blain scored 23 points, but the Sharks (9-16, 7-12) dropped their sixth straight with a 91-64 loss to No. 17 Point Loma (18-6, 14-4) in San Diego.
UH Hilo’s Navarette grabs PacWest award
Hawaii Hilo junior Allie Navarette was named the PacWest Conference women’s basketball Player of the Week on Monday, claiming the award for the third time this season.
The 6-foot post tied the program’s single-game scoring record with 34 points and set a school record with 19 rebounds in a win at Holy Names on Feb. 10. Over three games last week, she averaged 23.7 points and 18.7 rebounds. She shot 49% from the field and went 26-for-30 at the free-throw line.
HPU sweeps softball doubleheader
Hawaii Pacific leadoff hitter Cieana Curran went 2-for-3 with a triple, drove in a run and scored twice to spark an 8-3 win over British Columbia in the Sharks softball team’s home opener on Monday.
Megan Wilson threw four innings of scoreless relief to earn the win in the first game of a doubleheader at Howard Okita Field in Kaneohe. Leipua Kaui and Brazzlyn Tovio-Asato each drove in two runs in HPU’s 9-5 win in the second game. Malia Torres struck out three in a complete-game victory for the Sharks (5-4).
