Box Score HONOLULU – It's been 10 days since the Chaminade women's basketball team last was on the court. The rust was apparent.
Facing Northwest Nazarene, the 21
st-ranked team in the nation, the Silverswords proved no match for the Crusaders, falling 96-53 Tuesday night at McCabe Gym.
The Swords fell to 1-6 overall while the Crusaders improved to 8-1.
Chaminade's lineup seemed overmatched against the taller NNU squad, which was outrebounded, 58-30, and outscored, 55-44, in the paint.
Glacen Florita led the Swords with a season-high 15 points while pulling down seven rebounds, while
Kennedi Akana also tallied a season-best with 13 points. NNU's Taylor Simmons led all scorers with 20 points.
NNU scored the game's first eight points before the Swords got on the board on two
Carissa McBride free throws five minutes into the first half. Florita finally got the Swords' first field goal, a 3-pointer with 13:30 left in the half, which by that time, CUH trailed 13-5.
The Crusaders would lead by as many as 15, but Chaminade scored six straight to bring the deficit to single digits at 24-13. However, NNU closed the first half on a 23-10 run to grab a 47-23 advantage.
The halftime numbers reflected the disparity on the scoreboard as CUH managed only 5-of-26 from the floor, making 19.2 percent, while the Crusaders were 13-of-35 (37.1). The Swords were also hammered on the boards, outrebounded 31-13.
NNU picked up where it left off in the second half, continuing to wear down the smaller Swords. The Crusaders would make nearly 45 percent of their second half shots while out-rebounding CUH, 27-17.
The Silverswords return to the court Thursday when they host Malone University in their final non-conference game of the season at McCabe Gym. The game tips at 5 p.m., the first of a doubleheader as the Silversword men face Northwood which follows at 7:30 p.m. Both games will have live streaming audio on goswords.com.
