Not only will the Hawaii Pacific University basketball team be the top seed at this week’s NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball West Regional Championships, the Sharks are also hosting at the former St. Francis School gym.
Third-ranked HPU is 29-1 for the season and is riding a 25-match win streak dating back to a Nov. 27 home loss to Sioux Falls (S.D.) in a local tournament. The Sharks will open the regional on Friday with a 5 p.m. game against eighth seed Cal Poly Pomona (19-10) in the quarterfinals.
If the Sharks advance, they would face the winner of the Cal State San Marcos-Azusa Pacific matchup that is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday at St. Francis. The Sharks already knocked off Azusa Pacific in the finals of the PacWest Conference championship game this past weekend. This possible regional semifinals game would be played Saturday at 5 p.m. at St. Francis.
HPU was led by Starr Rivera and Abbey Noblett in that PacWest victory over the weekend on Azusa Pacific’s home floor. Rivera scored 18 and Noblett 16 to secure an automatic spot in the 64-team tournament. The NCAA West regional final will be played on HPU’s home court on March 16 at 7 p.m.
All tickets are general admission. Adult tickets are $10 with senior citizens and children under 12, $4. Students are also $4 and must have participating institution identification cards. Children under 2 not costing a seat are free. Parking is $7 for events held at St. Francis.
UH sailing finishes sixth in L.A.
The University of Hawaii Rainbow sailing team placed sixth at The Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup held Friday through Sunday off the shores of southern California.
A field of 10 schools from across the country competed over the three-day regatta.
Host Cal Maritime won the regatta with 32 points, while the Rainbows scored 53 points. Of the 10 races, UH recorded a pair of second-place finishes.
Pelle Bergstrom, Kelsie Grant, Hayden Lahr, Owen Lahr, Jack Lugliani, Samuel Patton, Bastien Rasse, Devon Stapleton and skipper Patrick Wilkinson sailed for UH.
Next up for the coed sailing team is the St. Francis Invite, March 28-29 in San Francisco.
