Box Score HONOLULU – Fans are getting their monies worth in series between the Chaminade and Hawai'i-Hilo women's basketball teams. For the second straight meeting dating back to last season, the Silverswords and Vulcans went into overtime.
Unlike the last meeting between the two last February won by UH-Hilo in the extra period, this time around it was the Swords on the victory column, rallying from 16-points down to take a 73-69 win in the Pacific West Conference opener for both teams Monday at McCabe Gym.
The Silverswords won their first game of the year and improved to 1-4 overall and 1-0 in the PacWest, snapping a 21-game losing streak dating back to Dec. 31 of last year. The in-conference win also means the Swords have a winning record in the PacWest for the first time in school history. UH-Hilo dropped to 1-2 and 0-1.
Freshman
Lilia Maio poured in a career-high 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the win. Fellow freshman
Kristle Henry also tallied a season-high with 12 points and seven boards, while
Kennedi Akana scored 10 points before fouling out midway through the second half.
Glacen Florita pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds while adding six points and five assists.
Whitney Edens had 12 point to lead UH-Hilo.
The Vulcans jumped out to a 23-7 lead nine minutes into the game, but the Swords went on a 17-3 run the next three minutes to close to 26-24 on a
Carissa McBride layup with 6:11 left in the half. The Vulcans would go on a 10-5 run the rest of the way to grab a 36-29 halftime lead.
Chaminade tied the game at 38 on a Henry 3-pointer from the left wing early in the second half. UH-Hilo would grab the lead again, but the Swords again tied the game at 47 then took the lead at 49-47 on
Hanna Curtius' turnaround jumper. The Vulcans tied it up on the next possession before Kamie Imai's runner gave UHH the lead at 51-49 with eight minutes left in the game.
Henry's 3-pointer reduced the deficit to 53-52 before Maio's two free throws gave the lead back to CUH at 54-53 with seven minutes remaining. The lead changing hands several times going into the final minutes and UH-Hilo was able to build a pair of 3-point leads, but the Swords would make it 1-point games each time. Henry was fouled on a successful layup then tied it at 62 on the free throw to complete the 3-point play with 1:17 left. Edens gave the Vulcans the lead at 64-62 with under a minute left then Florita tied it at 64 with 47 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Swords appeared to grab a 3-point lead a minute into the OT session, but an offensive foul negated
Shana Kawakami's 3-ball. Florita gave the Swords the lead again at 68-66 with 2:31 left when she banked in a left-wing jumper from 17-feet out, but the Vulcans tied it again. Maio blocked Hilo'spotential go-ahead shot, leading to a fast break as Henry found Kawakami for a reverse layup and a 71-69 lead with 39 seconds left. Henry would make 2-of-4 free throws to ice the game.
For the first time this season, the Swords out-rebounded their foe, 53-47. The 53 boards also set a school record. Chaminade's defense also held Imai, who averaged 15.5 points per game, to only nine points on 4-of-14 field goal shooting. The Swords also blocked six shots on the evening with Akana picking up three of them.
The Swords continue conference play Saturday when they host Hawai'i Pacific at 5 p.m. at McCabe Gym. Live streaming audio will be available on goswords.com.
