Box Score HONOLULU – Six weeks ago, the Chaminade University women's basketball team made history with their first-ever win in Laie. BYU-Hawai'i made sure the rematch was not a clean sweep.
The Seasiders got 18 points each from Whitney Fieldsted and Danna Lynn Hooper as BYU-Hawai'i downed the Silverswords, 68-59, Thursday in a Pacific West Conference game at McCabe Gym.
Playing in her final game as a Seasider, Hooper was also sent to the free throw line 10 times, making all, marking the fourth straight game that the 'Swords have sent an opposing player to the free throw line at least 10 times. BYUH (4-21, 4-16 PacWest) won its second straight to end its season.
Freshman guard
Angela Rigo came off the bench to lead Chaminade (3-22, 3-16 PacWest) with 11 points while
Lilia Maio had 10 and a team-best five rebounds.
The Seasiders managed to build a 7-point lead midway through the first half at 23-16, but the 'Swords managed to chop the deficit down to one when Rigo hit a layup with 3:40 left before halftime, making it 27-26. BYUH went on a 9-0 run to take its first double-digit lead at 36-26 with five seconds left, but
Shana Kawakami raced down the floor to make a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer.
In the early stages of the second half, the Seasiders built the lead back up to 10, but 'Swords head coach
Bobby Keanini decided to go with his second unit of Rigo, Kawakami,
Kelcie Namba,
Hanna Curtius and
Carissa McBride at the 15:34 mark. For the next eight minutes, they responded by whittling the deficit to four at 53-49 on Rigo's layup.
BYUH then got buckets from Fieldsted and Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo to push their lead back to eight, but Chaminade responded again by drawing to within three on a
Kennedi Akana jumper, two Rigo free throws and a Namba free throw, making it 61-58 with three minutes left.
But that was as close as the 'Swords would get as the Seasiders hit 5-of-6 foul shots to put the game on ice.
Despite a close shooting percentage (40 percent for BYUH, 39 for Chaminade), the rebounding edge clearly favored the Seasiders, 41-28. They also hit 23-of-28 from the charity stripe (82.1 percent) to CUH's 8-for-14.
The Silverswords conclude the regular season on Saturday when they host Fresno Pacific at 5 p.m. It will mark the final game for Namba, the lone player on the team who has expiring eligibility after this season. The game will have live streaming audio on goswords.com.
