On Saturday night, the Eagles improved their conference record to 9-9.  After starting the conference season slow, the Eagles finally clawed their way back up to .500, winning three of their previous four games.  On Monday night, however, they faced one of their toughest tests of the year.  The Hawaii Pacific Sharks entered Monday night's game with an overall record of 17-7 and a PacWest record of 15-3.  When the two teams met earlier in the season in Hawaii, the Sharks ran away with a 77-61 win.

The Eagles were quick out of the gates, scoring the first four points of the game on consecutive jumpers by Katie Timmerman and Michaela VanderKlugt.  The Sharks came right back and scored the next eight points to take the lead.  They never looked back from there.  HPU continually drove to the basket, getting good looks at the rim, or finding themselves at the free throw line.  In the first quarter, HPU shot 50 percent from the floor, knocked in all five of their free throw attempts, held the Eagles to just 30 percent, and took a 22-14 lead into the second.

In the second quarter, Samantha Lambrigsten and Breanna Mackenzie continued their excellent play for the Sharks.  The backcourt duo scored 14 points apiece in the first half.  HPU went on a quick 8-1 run to start the third and build a comfortable cushion.  Over the first 20 minutes, each team got to the free throw line 13 times, with HPU knocking in 11 and the Eagles hitting on 10.  While the Eagles shot just 26.9 percent from the floor in the first half, the Sharks were able to connect on 53.6 percent of their shots and took a 42-27 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, it was much of the same.  The Sharks continued to hit from the field at a high clip, getting good shots near the rim.  The Eagles were able to keep the Sharks off the free throw line better in the second half, however.  In the third quarter, CUI committed only two fouls and the Sharks attempted only two free throws.  Still, the
Eagles' offense struggled and weren't able to stick with HPU.  At the end of three, the score was 65-37.

In the fourth quarter, both teams expanded their rotations.  For the Eagles, Danielle Mills and Jennie Kwok saw more time than usual.  With under two minutes to play, Kwok launched a high arcing three pointer, swishing it, and drawing loud cheers from her teammates.  Though the Eagles played their finest quarter in the fourth, it was much too late.  The final score was 76-53 Sharks.

"HPU executed their system with ease against us," said head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan.  "We never connected on the floor and engaged together as a unit."

The Eagles continue their four game home stand on Thursday, taking on Fresno Pacific at 5:30 PM at CU Arena.

"We need to regroup and make sure our transition defense is ready to go on Thursday," said coach Collins-Kiernan.

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