HONOLULU (Interstat) — Saint Mary’s (Tex.) will be the visiting team and Hawaii Pacific will be the home team Sunday in a women’s NCAA Division II basketball game at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu. The Rattlers enter 0-1, while the Sharks are 0-0.

Saint Mary’s (Tex.) is coming off a 62-53 loss at Colorado Mesa in its most recent game. Allie Garcia is the player to watch for the Rattlers after scoring 19 points and adding two rebounds and one assist in 28 minutes. Raynne Malik added nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Joana Arumi contributed five points, two rebounds and two assists in the loss.

Hawaii Pacific will open its season at home after a 78-73 road win at Concordia (Cal.) in its most recent result. The Sharks will try to use the home court and fresh legs against a Rattlers team that already has one game behind it. Hawaii Pacific’s upcoming schedule includes home games against Alaska-Fairbanks, Alaska-Anchorage, Cal State Monterey Bay, two against Azusa Pacific, Vanguard, Biola, Hawaii Hilo, Montana State-Billings and Fairmont State. The Sharks’ early home schedule gives them a stretch of games at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

The upcoming schedule for Saint Mary’s (Tex.) includes home games against Concordia (Texas), South Dakota Mines, Black Hills State, Western State, Minnesota-Moorhead, Southern Nazarene and Texas Woman’s, along with road games at Central Oklahoma, Sul Ross State and Western New Mexico.

The matchup offers a contrast in early-season circumstances: Hawaii Pacific will be playing its first game, while Saint Mary’s is seeking its first win after a season-opening road defeat. The Rattlers will lean on Garcia’s scoring and backcourt experience, while the Sharks will look to build on their most recent result. Hawaii Pacific’s home setting could add energy for a team opening its campaign, but Saint Mary’s has the benefit of having already worked through game situations. Both teams will look to establish pace early, limit turnovers and get productive minutes from their rotations as they move deeper into nonconference play. Saint Mary’s will continue a demanding early stretch with several home games and road trips ahead, while Hawaii Pacific will begin a run of home contests. The Rattlers will need to improve their shooting and rebounding after the opener, and the Sharks will aim to carry momentum from their last result into the opener. Both programs are in nonconference play and are using the early schedule to build rotations and evaluate lineups.

Interstat’s game simulator projects Saint Mary’s (Tex.) to edge Hawaii Pacific 59-57. Interstat’s ELO system gives the Rattlers a 52.9 percent probability to win.