Box Score FRESNO, CA- The Swords dropped a matchup with the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific 80-56 in the first game of a four game mainland road trip for Chaminade in PacWest Conference play.
The first half saw both teams battle to gain an early advantage as both sides were looking for a much-needed Pacific West Conference win. Following a made free throw by Silversword senior
Nikki Tauau (Oxnard, CA/Pacifica), the Swords led the Sunbirds 22-21 with 7:22 left and looked poised to battle Fresno Pacific to the wire. The Sunbirds answered the Swords, outscoring CUH 21-10 over the remainder of the first half to lead at the break. FPU took a ten-point advantage into halftime, leading 42-32.
The Sunbirds extended their double-digit lead early in the second half, leading 52-35 less than four minutes in. Chaminade was not shaken, cutting the lead back to ten points at 54-44 following a
Nikki Tauau layup. A
Kennedi Akana layup (Kailua, HI/Kamehameha-Kapalama) for the Swords kept the FPU lead at 58-48 with 11:53 remaining in the contest. It was a close as CUH would get, as the Sunbirds extended the lead from there, finishing the contest with an 80-56 victory.
Nikki Tauau led Chaminade with 14 points in 18 minutes of action, while freshman
Shana Kawakami (Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt) added 9 points in defeat. Ten Silverswords saw action and all ten scored in the road contest.
CUH was out-rebounded 51-33 on the afternoon. The Silverswords shot 36% from the floor, while the Sunbirds shot 37%.
Fresno Pacific was led by Keairra White with 23 points in the win. Keri Stephanoff had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds for FPU.
Coach Keanini commented on the defeat: "Fresno Pacific did a great job shooting the ball. Rebounding is a huge weakness that we work hard on, but FPU being bigger and athletic is a tough task to deal with. We did a lot of good things, but we need to keep working."
With the defeat, Chaminade moves to 1-11, 1-5 PWC. Fresno Pacific improves to 1-14, 1-7 PWC on the year. The Swords face Dominican (CA) on Monday, January 21st in San Rafael, CA. Tip is set for 5:30 PM PT at the Conlan Center.
