Winners in four of their previous five games and 1-0 on their Hawaii trip, the CUI women's basketball team looked to keep their hot streak going against the Hawaii Pacific Sharks on Thursday night.  HPU entered the game with a 10-5 overall record, winning eight of their nine PacWest games to date.

In the first five minutes of the game, the Sharks jumped out to a big lead, opening up with a 13-2 run right after the jump.  The Eagles made a run of their own, however.  After falling behind by 11, the Eagles went on a 12-0 run themselves to take a lead.  Jasmine Rachal, Riley Friauf, and Kennedy Fulcher each scored on consecutive trips to cut the Sharks' lead to six.  After both teams went cold, exchanging misses, with neither team able to score for nearly three minutes, Friauf broke the drought with a layup and Kara Ito added a free throw before the end of the first. 

In the second quarter, Michaela VanderKlugt kept the Eagles' run alive with a three pointer on the opening possession of the quarter to give CUI their first lead of the night.  The two teams traded baskets for a majority of the second quarter, with neither team able to make any substantial runs.  In the final two minutes and 25 seconds, however, the Sharks were able to close strong, finishing with a 7-1 run and taking a 36-29 lead into the halftime break.

Statistically, the first half was close.  Neither team shot well from the floor, with the Eagles making just 37 percent of their shots, but holding the Sharks to 41.4 percent.  The Eagles held the advantage on the boards, but also had 10 turnovers to the Sharks' five.  VanderKlugt led the Eagles in scoring in the first half with seven points, while Fulcher led the way with seven rebounds.

"We played incredible team defense in the first half and limited their transition game," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan.  "We hit a lot of adversity in this game in many different aspects and we did a great job of fighting through that in the first half."

Early in the third quarter, the Eagles proved that they were a team to be reckoned with, pushing the Sharks like few teams have this year.  The Eagles began the half with 11 quick points, holding HPU to just four, and tying the score at 40 with 7:25 remaining in the quarter.  HPU responded, however.  Despite struggling to contain the Eagles' frontcourt, the Sharks picked up their game in the second half, as well.  The Sharks finished with a 15-5 run to the end the third quarter and take a 10 point lead into the fourth.

The Eagles continued to play hard in the fourth quarter, and Kennedy Fulcher continued to pour in points and haul down rebounds throughout.  The Sharks continued to knock in shots themselves, however, and after starting the fourth quarter by scoring seven of the first nine points, HPU had built a 15 point lead.  CUI attempted to cut into the lead and give themselves a chance in the end, but with every CUI basket, HPU was there to match them.  The final score was 77-61, with HPU coming out on top.

"Our level of maturity and growth needs to continue to be accelerated to find pockets of success," coach Collins-Kiernan said after the game.

Kennedy Fulcher led the Eagles with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Friauf and VanderKlugt combined for 29 points. 

Instead of gloating about her performance, Fulcher focused on the defensive effort, and also gave credit to the ball movement that got her open looks on the offensive end. 

"We were successful when we executed the game plan defensively and were able to move the ball around on offense," Fulcher said. 

CUI wraps up their Hawaii trip against Chaminade on Saturday.  Tipoff is at 3:00 PM PT.

For the full Concordia women's basketball schedule, click here