Box Score HONOLULU – Look at the series history between the Chaminade and Hawai'i Pacific women's basketball teams and it's clearly lopsided in favor of the Sea Warriors both in the won-loss column and by the final margins.
But if the latest meeting is any indication, the Silverswords may be getting closer to finally ending the long losing streak to their in-city rivals. Chaminade fell to HPU, 81-69, in a Pacific West Conference game Saturday at McCabe Gym, a far cry from recent outings.
Freshman
Lilia Maio continued a standout rookie campaign for the Swords with her first career double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds while fellow freshman
Kristle Henry had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Chaminade fell to 1-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Shianne Solomon had a game-high 19 points for HPU, which improved to 3-1 and 2-0 in the PacWest. Skye Savini contributed with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was close in the first half with the Swords grabbing a 12-10 lead on
Shana Kawakami's steal and layup with 11:51 left, CUH's only lead of the contest. HPU went on a mini-run, taking its largest lead of the first half at 24-17 with just under 5 minutes left. A flurry of 3-pointers by the Swords with Henry burying two and
Kelcie Namba the other, and a Maio layup would establish the fourth tie of the half at 28-all. HPU scored the final 8 points of the half to take a 36-28 lead.
The Sea Warriors would slowly begin to pull away early in the second half. An 8-0 run gave HPU a 51-39 lead with 14 minutes left, but the Swords made one final push, going on an 8-0 run of their own on two Maio layups and a
Glacen Florita 3, bringing CUH to within 53-49 with 12 minutes left. But the Sea Warriors extended the lead, stretching their advantage to 77-62, quelling any attempt at a Chaminade comeback.
Both teams shot under 40 percent from the floor at 37.8 percent for Chaminade and 36.3 for HPU. But a 58-43 advantage for the Sea Warriors on the board proved to be one of the biggest differences in the game.
Kawakami scored 13 points while
Kennedi Akana had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks for CUH.
The Swords return to the McCabe Gym floor on Tuesday, Dec. 17 when they return to non-conference action against Northwest Nazarene. The game will have live audio, streamed on goswords.com.
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