Hawaii Pacific falls to St. Mary’s (TX) in Hoops in Hawaii Tip-Off third-place game

HONOLULU – Fought hard, fell short but found plenty of positives.

Playing for the third time in three days, the Hawaii Pacific University women’s basketball team ran out of energy in the Hoops in Hawaii Tip-Off Classic third-place game as they fell 58-51 against St. Mary’s (TX) on Sunday night.

The Sharks saw three players score in double figures in the loss, getting 15 points from second-year guard Jalen Samuel while wings Kyla Hopton and Lucia Ricci each added 10 points.

HPU (1-2) struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the first half against St. Mary’s, scoring four points in the opening quarter and 11 points in the follow-up frame to head into the break with 15 total points through 20 minutes of action.

The defense was up to the task in the first quarter for the Sharks, holding the Rattlers to 3-of-14 shooting to enter the second stanza trailing by two. St. Mary’s turned up the heat in the second with a 20-point quarter, drilling three 3-pointers in the frame to open up a 26-15 lead heading into the locker rooms.

Hawaii Pacific saw the offense ignite after the break, posting 36 points in the second half while holding St. Mary’s to 32 points across the final 20 minutes of action. The Sharks outscored the Rattlers in both the third and fourth quarters and made a rapid push late, but the rally ultimately fell short for the PacWest products.

St. Mary’s was carried by junior forward Kamryn Griffin, who posted a 29-point, 13-rebound double-double in the victory for the Rattlers. Freshman guard Elizabeth Griffin chipped in 12 points and knocked down a pair of triples for the visitors from Texas while junior forward Raynne Malik added eight points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes of work.

Despite falling on the final two nights of the season tip-off tournament, second-year head coach Brent Gibson felt the weekend brought plenty of positives for the season that still sits ahead for the Sharks.

“Great for us to step up on the national level and get that opportunity,” Gibson said when asked about the weekend. “I think that for us, we saw some combinations that work really well in our pressure defense system and we’re going to see how we can grow with that.”

 Gibson also pointed out the adjustment for his team having a true post presence this year after going all of last season without a single player over 6-foot tall. With the addition of a healthy Cordelia Wilcox, who missed all of last year with a knee injury, and the expected return of Abbey Hadsell, the Sharks will have multiple true “bigs” to play with throughout 2026-27.

“It’s the question of how we incorporate that,” Gibson continued. “We haven’t had that in the past, so we’ve got to make some adjustments and add a little something extra to us.”

Hawaii Pacific will return to action for the team’s home opener in just under two weeks, welcoming Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage to the islands on November 13 and 14 as part of the Hawai’i-Alaska Challenge.