COSTA MESA – In a welcome reversal of recent events, Saturday's afternoon contest was never in doubt for the Lions, as Vanguard (14-4, 10-3) drowned the Sharks of Hawaii Pacific (6-14, 5-9) by 42, winning 79-37.
It was a balanced scoring night for Vanguard, as 10 different players put their mark in the points column. However, it was Micaela Hanning's near perfect night that was the headliner, with 22pts on 10-11 shooting, coupled with five boards and three assists.
Emma Schaaf followed up her career-best 30-point performance from Thursday with 17 points tonight, doing all of her work in the paint or at the charity-stripe (7-9 FT). She also had a game-high seven boards, with two rejections to boot.
Defensively, Vanguard forced a season-high 30 turnovers, their most since they induced 31 on old-GSAC foe OUAZ back on January 27, 2024.
Mya Hatchett for HPU sprinkled in 11 points in 23 minutes to pace the Sharks.
What Happened?:
The visitors, who were coming in after a 30-point loss to Westmont two days ago, were seeking to come out with some more punch against the Blue and Gold. Vanguard put an end to that right away.
Vanguard was clinical in quarter one, shooting 71.4% in the period and seeing Hanning go a perfect 6-6 in the frame. Hanning's layup and Aryanna Hudson's triple saw VU spring to an early 5-0 lead. Mya Hatchett had a response on a layup of her own, but that would be the only points the Lions would allow in quarter-one. 10 1st-quarter turnovers by HPU aided the aforementioned players along with a Shayla O'Neil three-point splashdown towards a 23-2 score after one.
The 20-0 run would be punctuated to start the 2nd quarter thanks to Natalie Scherzer's jumper on the first possession. However, from there, the Sharks' offense began to show signs of life, and their full-court press began to cause some issues for the Blue and Gold. Coach Davis burned a timeout, sensing this, while hoping to not have a repeat of the first meeting between these two teams. Two weeks ago in Hawaii, it was a similar first quarter of Vanguard being up by 18, but HPU made it a second-half slugfest before VU limped to the finish-line.
This time, there would be no doubt.
Vanguard trudged their way to a 42-15 halftime lead, thanks in large part to paint-dominance by Schaaf, Akilah Kubi, and Kayla Boozer, with Hudson putting the bow on the first-half with a last-second putback.
The second-half was more of the same, only this time, the Lions saw their three-ball open back up for them. After shooting 2-10 in the first 20-minutes, it was a 36.3% effort from distance in the final half, including an appropriate 3-6 3PT effort in the fourth quarter.
Shayla O'Neil saved her best for that final frame, helping Vanguard carry some momentum into their next contest. O'Neil scored seven points herself, but was responsible for 15 of VU's 17 points in the 4th. She finished with a well-rounded 13pts/6reb/4ast. Â
Of note: The win tonight allows Vanguard to remain just 0.5-games back of APU for the number-one seed in the PacWest, as VU was also aided by a PLNU loss earlier in the day.
Vanguard continues to have the best 3PT-defense in the PacWest, as they held their opponent to below 20% from downtown for the 4th time this season. They also kept HPU off balance, as evident with just 4 assists for the Sharks.
What Was Said?: "We had really good energy tonight," said Head Coach Russ Davis. "It really hurt us losing Ash and then Halle last week and hopefully we're starting to get adjusted now. Have to keep working hard and getting better. Only 1 game out of first so we need to stay locked in."
What's Next?:Â Vanguard hosts the Vulcans of Hilo on Tuesday for Women in Sports Night. The women will swap start times with the men, as Russ Davis and company will tip off at 7:30pm on February 3.
