Box Score HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team's return to the comforts of McCabe Gym was not so comfortable against Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday.
Playing in only its second home game in the past 42 days, the Silverswords couldn't overcome a 28 percent shooting night in a 63-56 loss to the Argonauts. The loss dropped the 'Swords to 3-20 on the season, 3-14 in the Pacific West Conference and, coupled with Hawai'i-Hilo's win over Holy Names earlier in the evening, eliminated them from contention from a PacWest Tournament berth in two weeks.
Hanna Curtius scored a career-high 19 points with six rebounds for the 'Swords while
Glacen Florita had 12 with five rebounds. Leading scorer
Lilia Maio, hampered by foul trouble throughout, was held to six points, half below her season average, before fouling out late.
Kennedi Akana chipped in with eight points and nine boards.
Maya Arellanes led the Argos (5-18, 4-13) with 16 points, despite making only two field goals. However she feasted at the foul line, making 11-of-14 shots, tying the Chaminade opponent record for free throws made and attempted in a game. Jennifer Jasper notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Chaminade began the game ice-cold, scoring only eight points some 11 minutes into the contest. By then, NDNU had built a 12-point lead at 20-8. But the 'Swords whittled away at the deficit, eventually closing to within six at 32-26 at halftime.
With CUH trailing 38-29 with 16:13 left in the game,
Sabrina Angle's 3-pointer began an 11-1 run, booked ended by Curtius' 3-ball, giving the Silverswords their first lead of the game at 40-39. After an Arellanes field goal,
Shana Kawakami buried a jumper to put the 'Swords back in front, 42-41. The Argos then scored eight straight to take a 49-42 lead with 8:45 left. The 'Swords would close to as little as five several times down the stretch, but NDNU hit 12 of its last 14 free throws to keep Chaminade at bay, despite not making a field goal in the game's final five minutes.
The 'Swords shot under 30 percent in both halves, leading to their 27.9 field goal percentage in the game, although they limited the Argos to only six made buckets in the second half, holding them to only 24 percent shooting during the final 20 minutes. NDNU out-rebounded CUH, 53-45, and made 25-of-39 shots from the charity stripe. Chaminade was only 11-of-16.
Chaminade returns to McCabe Gym on Saturday when it faces Holy Names with tipoff at 5 p.m. The game has been designated a "White Out" game and the first 100 students in attendance to the doubleheader will receive a free T-shirt courtesy of the Chaminade Student Programming Board. Live audio of the game will be available on goswords.com.
