Box Score SAN DIEGO – The start of the final Mainland road trip for the Chaminade University women's basketball team got off on the wrong foot Tuesday as they dropped an 87-51 decision to Point Loma in a Pacific West Conference game at Golden Gymnasium.
The Silverswords, who entered the week just two games behind Hawai'i-Hilo for the sixth and final spot for a PacWest Tournament berth, fell to 3-17 overall and 3-11 in the PacWest. The Sea Lions, who will host the tournament next month, improved to 12-9 and 9-7.
Sabrina Angle had a big night for Chaminade in defeat, with 15 points, five 3-pointers and seven rebounds, all career-highs. Her five triples are tied for the second-most in school history.
Lilia Maio had 14 points for the 'Swords and was a rebound shy of her fourth double-double this season.
Jessica Escorza led Point Loma with 19 points.
The Silverswords grabbed the lead briefly to open the game, but the Sea Lions overtook them and owned a 29-18 lead with 4:07 left in the first half. A
Shana Kawakami layup, followed by jumpers from Maio and
Glacen Florita got the 'Swords to within 29-24 with 90 seconds left in the half, but a Carlott Kloppenburg 3-pointer with 33 seconds left gave Point Loma a 32-24 lead at the break.
Chaminade shot 31.3 percent from the field in the half while PLNU shot 41.4. The Sea Lions edged the Silverswords in the rebounding category, 22-21.
Maio's bucket two minutes into the second half brought the 'Swords to within 34-28. However, CUH couldn't find the basket for nearly six minutes thereafter while the Sea Lions went on a 21-0 run during that span, building their lead to 55-28. Angle's 3-pointer finally ended the Silverswords' scoring drought.
Maio, who struggled to find her shot in the first half going 1-for-8, managed to regain her form, hitting 7-of-11 in the second. However, Point Loma also found a second-half groove, hitting a whopping 60 percent of their shots in the period (21-of-25). The 'Swords managed to stay with the Sea Lions on the boards, being out-rebounded only by one, 39-38. However, Chaminade hit only 3-of-9 from the foul line while PLNU was 13-of-21.
Also, with seven points in the game, Florita moved into the program's top 10 leading scorers. She has 336 career points and needs 27 to pass Marian Murphy (2006-08) for ninth place.
The 'Swords face California Baptist Thursday in Riverside, Calif.
