Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball team hits the end of the road at NCAA regional

A cold shooting night in Colorado led to the end of the Hawaii Pacific University women’s basketball team’s 38-game winning streak and the Sharks’ season on Friday.

HPU struggled from the field and saw a fourth-quarter comeback fall short in a 72-59 loss to Azusa Pacific in the first round of the NCAA Division II West Regional in Grand Junction, Colo.

With the win, Azusa Pacific advanced to Monday’s regional final while HPU closed the season at 13-1 after its first defeat since Nov. 27, 2019.

“We had a lot of wide-open shots tonight, it just wasn’t falling,” HPU coach Reid Takatsuka said in the postgame press conference. “I think the shots that we got tonight were within our system. I thought the girls did a great job of finding the open person and it was just one of those nights. Shots that we normally make just didn’t go in.”

HPU entered the tournament ranked second and fourth in the national polls but was seeded fifth in the regional.

The Sharks led 15-12 after the first quarter in the matchup with Pacific West Conference rival Azusa Pacific, but the fourth-seeded Cougars outscored the Sharks 21-11 in the second period and led by as many as 15 in the third quarter.

The Cougars were ahead 56-43 early in the fourth when HPU’s Olivia West drained a 3-pointer to spark a 12-0 run, and the Sharks trailed by one when West hit another from long range with 6:48 left. APU’s Paige Uyehara ended the HPU surge with a 3-pointer, but West answered to cut the lead to one again at 59-58 with 6:03 remaining.

But that would be HPU’s last field goal of the night and Azusa Pacific managed to pull away.

“The team was on a roll and we were going to ride that momentum,” Takatsuka said, “and it just so happened Azusa hit a couple big shots and we missed a couple.”

“They stretched it a little and we were still in it, but we weren’t able to capitalize on wide-open shots and that was the key to the game.”

Azusa Pacific shot 48.1% from the field to the Sharks’ 30.3% (23-for-76) in avenging an 0-3 mark against HPU last season. HPU finished 10-for-39 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Azusa Pacific forward Laura Pranger led four Cougars in double figures with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field. Guards Kayla Shaw went 4-for-8 from 3-point range and finished with 13 points. Uyehara also had 13 and forward Molly Whitmore added 12.

Azusa Pacific also built a 47-34 rebounding advantage with guard Alex Lowden grabbing 13 boards to go along with eight points, five assists and three steals. Forward Kelly Heimburger added 11 rebounds and seven points.

West hit four 3-pointers and led the Sharks with 16 points. HPU senior Alysha Marcucci added 15 points and went 3-for-9 from long range in her final game. Guard Amy Baum finished with 12 points.