by Box Score SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 22, 2015) – The Hawai’i Pacific Women’s Basketball Team beat the back-to-back defending PacWest Champions, Academy of Art, 72-71 on Thursday night in the Bay Area. HPU moved to 16-2 overall and 11-0 in PacWest play, remaining in sole possession of first place.
Chenise Peone (Colville Tribes) grabbed her 16th rebound of the night and the clock ran out after a last second game-winning attempt from Art U (11-7, 6-4).
The game lived up to the hype of a heavyweight title fight. HPU grabbed a 7-6 lead to open the contest but the home team went on a 10-0 run to claim control with 12:44 left in the first period. The score was 22-12 in favor of Art U, but HPU counterpunched with a 13-3 run to tie the game. The final points of the spurt came from freshman Breanna Mackenzie when she drilled a three-pointer with 6:37 to go.
The huge swings continued with Art U’s 10-1 run, HPU then matched with a 10-0 streak of its own. The teams went to the locker rooms with nothing decided, tied at 36.
The first part of the second half belonged to the Sharks with an early 12-2 run, sure enough Art U responded and tied the game by the 9:55 mark. From that point the biggest lead for either side was six points.
After Morganne Comstock tied the game at 62, a pair of baskets by Kylie Huerta– with a Mackenzie make sandwiched in between- gave HPU a 68-62 advantage with 3:10 to go. A Comstock jumper kept the lead at six with 1:33 to play and the Shark defense held down the stretch.
Mackenzie posted a career-high 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds, building the case for another PacWest Freshman of the Week award. Peone’s career-high rebounding night went with 17 points and three steals. Comstock and Huerta each had 14 points and five rebounds, Huerta added a game-high eight assists.
HPU closes the four-game road trip on Saturday in Belmont, CA against Notre Dame de Namur.
WTG Chenise Peone So proud of you