HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team opens their season when they face Central Washington Wednesday at McCabe Gym. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. with live streaming audio available at GoSwords.com.
This season has the promise to be special for the Silverswords. With seven seniors the 'Swords are striving to be in a position to make noise in the competitive Pacific West Conference and ultimately, capturing one of the six coveted berths in the PacWest Tournament in March. They also have sorely needed depth after losing three impactful players from last year.
"With the seniors, we look at having not only depth, but experience," head coach
Bobby Keanini said. "I know we'll be exciting to watch. We will compete well and have a very special season."
The 'Swords are no longer considered to be an "easy win" for opponents. Chaminade has 12 wins in the past two seasons, five more than the previous seven years combined. In 2015-16, the 'Swords gave major scares to PacWest leaders Academy of Art (nine-point loss), Hawai'i Pacific (six-point double overtime loss) and Point Loma (four-point loss). They were even locked in a tight contest at fourth-ranked California Baptist until they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.
The improvement of the program can be traced to seniors
Lilia Maio,
Carissa Webb and
Kristle Henry, all of whom were part of the 2013-14 recruiting class. The trio have been a part of 15 wins, the most-ever in a three-year span by a single class.
Maio is on the verge of accomplishing a rare feat. The Kamehameha-Kapalama graduate is only 63 points from becoming only the second Silverswords women's player to reach 1,000 career points and needs just 205 points to become the program's all-time leading scorer.
Meanwhile, Henry has been quietly moving up the Chaminade all-time career lists as well. With 613 points and 280 rebounds, she ranks fifth all-time in both categories while her 172 assists puts her in second. The Lihue, Kaua'i, native also ranks third in career steals with 127 and needs 40 more to become the program's theft leader.
Although she hasn't received the high accolades of her fellow seniors, Webb has been an effective post player and has improved each season. The former Carissa McBride has not only seen her scoring averages increase each year, the Leilehua graduate also pulled down 107 boards in '15-16, nearly twice as much as her first two years combined.
Forward
Courtney Kaupu provided an immediate impact in her first year last season after transferring from Centralia College in Washington state. The former Konawaena Wildcat was the squad's No. 2 scorer at 9.6 points per game last year and was also a distributor with 53 assists which was third on team.
The Silverswords also return two other seniors; guards
Taylor Babbitt, who shook off an early season injury and provided much needed minutes at shooting guard, as well as
Chantal Yadao. Guard
Kiana Wright also returns for her sophomore campaign.
Chaminade also has several talented newcomers. It added another senior,
Brooke Rickard, who transferred from fellow Division II institution Saint Martin's University after receiving her Bachelor's degree there this past May. Rickard gives them additional depth after playing 23 games with four starts for the Saints in her final year at SMU.
Junior
Jakarra Waddell adds a post presence and comes to Chaminade after playing in winning programs at Long Beach City College and John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. Another JUCO transfer, Sarah Dudzinksi, also played on victorious programs while attending high schools in Orlando, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Keanini also brought in three freshmen in guards
Kali Benavente and
Destiny Castro and forward
Melina Souza. Benavente and Castro were among the best high school players on the island of Guam and both have extensive international experience in FIBA events. Souza has the distinction of being in the first class at Damien Memorial School in Honolulu that allowed admission to girls after being an all-boys school its entire history. She was a two-time all-Interscholastic League of Honolulu selection and led the ILH in scoring her junior year. Souza also guided the Monarchs to back-to-back Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Division II Championship appearances.
After its opener against CWU, the 'Swords will face Oakland City at Moanalua High School on Saturday then will open PacWest action on Nov. 30 against Hawai'i Hilo at McCabe Gym.
The Silverswords will also host non-conference games at McCabe Gym against No. 10 Alaska Anchorage (Dec. 14) and NCAA Division I and former PacWest member Grand Canyon (Dec. 31). It'll be the program's first-ever regular season game against a Division I opponent.
The 'Swords also have conference home dates against second-ranked CBU (Jan. 5), BYU-Hawai'i on Jan. 19 which will be the final game against the Seasiders, and the regular season finale against HPU on Feb. 25.
