LAIE, O'ahu, Hawai'i – It was a quarter that the Chaminade University women's basketball team would rather forget.
The Silverswords saw a double-digit second quarter lead evaporate as BYU-Hawai'i's 29-point third quarter explosion gave the Seasiders an 85-63 win Saturday at the Cannon Activities Center.
The loss was the 'Swords first in the Pacific West Conference as they fell to 3-5 overall and 3-1 in league play.
Lilia Maio led Chaminade with 17 points and nine rebounds while
Courtney Kaupu had 12 points and four assists with
Kristle Henry and
Carissa McBride contributing with eight points each.
Chantal Yadao pulled down a season-high seven rebounds while
Taylor Babbitt had six boards.
Jiashan Cui paced BYU-Hawai'i (4-4, 1-2 PacWest) with 15 points with Valarie Nawahine adding 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The 'Swords trailed 13-11 midway through the first quarter, but Maio drained a 3-pointer to begin a 12-0 run over the next two minutes to give them a 23-13 lead. McBride had five points during the run while Henry had four.
BYUH whittled Chaminade's lead down to six in the opening minutes of the second quarter but
Shana Kawakami and Kaupu each scored a pair of buckets to get the lead back to double-digits. Maio's jumper gave the Silverswords their largest lead of the game at 40-27 with 3:15 left in the half and a 40-32 lead at intermission.
But the 'Swords were ice-cold to start the third. The Seasiders scored the first seven points of the quarter to draw to within a point at 40-39. Following a
Kennedi Akana free throw, Celeste Claw's triple gave BYUH a 42-41 lead, its first since early in the game. The Seasiders continued to fill the bucket while the Silverswords continued to struggle from the floor.
After the third quarter dust settled, BYUH outscored Chaminade 29-6 in the third with the Silverswords' only field goal in the quarter coming on McBride's and-1.
BYUH's ballooned to 24 in the early stages of the fourth quarter although Chaminade finally settled down. But the damage was already done as the Seasiders won handily, outscoring the 'Swords 53-23 in the second half.
Both squads did not shoot particularly well with Chaminade at 33.3 percent and BYUH at 37. The Seasiders had 52 rebounds to the Silverswords' 46. However BYU-Hawai'i dropped 21 assists to 15 turnovers committed while the 'Swords had 11 and 24, respectively.
Chaminade also did not help itself at the free throw line, hitting only 19 of 37 shots while BYUH was 24-of-35. The Seasiders also hit seven triples to four for the 'Swords, who went 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the second half.
The Silverswords will take the Christmas holiday off and will resume PacWest action as they open a three-game road swing on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Dixie State.
