Box Score SAN FRANCISCO, CA – CUH lost to Academy of Art this evening 73-52 in a PacWest Conference contest for the Swords.
Chaminade set the tone early, as the Swords took a 6-4 lead to the first media timeout. The Swords have been good early against AAU in both contests this season, taking an early lead (6-0) at the first media timeout in the schools previous meeting in January 11th in Honolulu. Following two free throws from junior forward
Rhani Kaneaiakala (Waimanalo, HI/Kamehameha), the Swords were down just six points 28-22 with 3:25 left in the opening half. The Urban Knights scored the final four points of the half to lead 32-22 at the break. Chaminade was led
Nikki Tauau (Oxnard, CA/Pacifica) who had an impressive first half with 8 points and 8 rebounds.
CUH shot 28% from the floor in the first half, while AAU shot 31% from the field.
An early second half run by the Swords cut Academy of Art's lead to 36-31 with 17 minutes remaining in the contest. Chaminade was helped by the play of senior guard Kelly Costello (Wixom, MI/Walled Lake Central) who scored in double figures, contributing 17 points, making three three-pointers. It is the third double figure game for Costello this year. The Swords stayed close, cutting the Urban Knight's lead to six at 47-41 on a Tauau lay-up with 11:28 left. Academy of Art responded with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach for Chaminade.
The Silverswords shot 29% from the floor and Academy of Art shot 40% for the game. Tauau finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds for CUH.
Academy of Art was led by Alisa Griggs with 14 points. The Urban Knights dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Swords, 49-32.
Coach Keanini added: “We battled hard tonight. I'm feeling good about how we played. The score doesn't reflect how well we played. Academy went on a run off a few of our mistakes. Size-wise we didn't matchup, but the girls were competing all night. Kelly (Costello) hit some shots, Nikki (Tauau) was battling. We got a lot of great efforts. I'm not going to complain when we got that kind of effort from the team.”
Chaminade heads home for PacWest action on Jan. 30th against Grand Canyon. Tip is set for 5:00 PM HT in McCabe Gym.
The Swords are now 0-13, 0-7 PWC on the year, while Academy of Art goes to 11-6, 7-2 PWC.
