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HONOLULU, Hawaii - The turnover bug bit visiting Whitworth on Saturday night as Hawaii Pacific forced 22 Pirate errors on the way to a 91-71 win.

Cassie Pilkinton

Cassie Pilkinton scored 18 points, Natalie Orrell added 14 and Tiffany Corigliano finished with 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the Pirates.

Pilkinton hit a pair of free throws to give Whitworth an 8-6 lead three minutes into the game. But NCAA DII HPU went on a 9-0 run to open a 15-8 lead and the Sea Warriors never trailed again. Whitworth was still within 27-22 after a basket by Orrell with 7:44 to play in the period, but HPU closed the half by outscoring Whitworth 21-12 to take a 48-34 lead into the locker room.

The Sea Warriors quickly extended the lead to 20 points early in the second half before Pilkinton hit a three-pointer to pull Whitworth within 56-43 with 16:35 to play. But that is as close as the Pirates would get. HPU lead by as many as 24 points (91-67) late in the contest.

Whitworth (1-2) will play its first game against an NCAA Division III opponent next week when the Pirates travel to Southern California for three games around the Thanksgiving holiday. On Wednesday Whitworth will play at Cal Lutheran (3:00 p.m.), on Friday at Caltech and Saturday at Redlands (both noon). All three schools are members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.