LAIE, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University women's basketball team got 13 points from
Courtney Kaupu and 10 from
Kristle Henry as they fell to BYU-Hawai'i, 62-55, Monday in their final appearance at the Cannon Activities Center.
The loss dropped the Silverswords to 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the Pacific West Conference.
Safia Sheikh, the reigning PacWest Player of the Week, scored a game-high 24 points for the Seasiders, who improved to 6-5 and 3-2.
Lilia Maio tied her season highs with 13 rebounds and three assists but was held to four points on the night.
Sarah Dudzinski added a season-best eight points for Chaminade while
Destiny Castro had seven boards with five points with
Kali Benavente and
Taylor Babbitt also scoring five each.
After trailing by double-digits much of the first half, the 'Swords cut the deficit to single digits when Benavente's 3-pointer brought them to within 31-28 nearly two minutes gone in the third quarter. However BYUH had an answer for each score and held a 43-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
Chaminade again rallied as Kaupu scored five straight and Babbitt's layup brought them to 45-43 with 5:49 left but it was as close as they got.
The 'Swords committed a season-low 10 turnovers and pulled down 45 rebounds, their second-most of the season. Sixteen came on the offensive end which is tied for their season high.
The teams will meet for the final time in approximately one month in McCabe Gym as BYUH closes its intercollegiate athletics program after this season.
The Silverswords will take the Christmas week off and return to action on New Year's Eve against former PacWest foe Grand Canyon at McCabe Gym. It'll be the program's first-ever regular season game against an NCAA Division I foe. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. with live streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
