HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team opened the season Thursday with an 82-63 setback to Alaska at McCabe Gym.
Kristle Henry poured in a career-high 20 points for the Silverswords, hitting 10-of-14 shots from the floor with six rebounds and five assists. The junior from Lihue, Kaua'i who last year led the Pacific West Conference in steals per game, also had three thefts.
Lilia Maio tallied a double-double on opening night for the 'Swords with 13 points and 11 boards.
Shana Kawakami added 14 for Chaminade (0-1).
Courtney Kaupu had nine points and five rebounds in her Silversword debut.
Stephanie Toumson and Jordan Wilson each had double-doubles for the Nanooks, who improved to 2-1. Toumson had 20 points and 10 rebounds while Wilson had 13 and 10. Jaylee Mills contributed with 19 points in the victory.
Playing under new NCAA women's rules – most notably, four 10-minute quarters instead of the traditional two 20-minute halves – the Silverswords were highly competitive for 33 minutes. However, the third quarter proved to be biggest factor in the game's outcome.
Trailing 34-31 early in the third, Chaminade was held to only one field goal in the final seven minutes of the period as Alaska built an 18-point lead.
The Silverswords were never able to recover although they were only outscored 26-23 in the fourth quarter.
The 'Swords shot 41.7 percent from the floor, but despite the margin of defeat, were still only slightly outshot by the Nanooks from the field (41.9 percent). However Chaminade was only 10-20 from the foul line while UAF hit 14-of-18. Alaska had the edge in rebounding (45-36) and assists 13-9).
Chaminade did manage to establish an inside game with 38 points in the paint to Alaska's 34 and had more second-chance points 18-16.
The Silverswords are next in action on Thanksgiving Day when they face Western Washington in the O'ahu Thanksgiving Classic. The game will be played at St. Francis School with tipoff set for 4 p.m.
