HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team was unable to piece together two strong halves, coming on the short end of a 70-57 defeat to BYU-Hawai'i Saturday at McCabe Gym.
The Silverswords continue to suffer second-half woes as they made only eight field goals shot only 27 percent in the game's final 20 minutes as they fell to 5-17 overall and 5-13 in the Pacific West Conference.
Courtney Kaupu led the 'Swords with 10 points while pulling down seven rebounds.
Sabrina Angle and
Shana Kawakami added nine points while
Lilia Maio had eight.
Kristle Henry yanked down a career-high nine boards while Kaupu, Maio and
Carissa McBride had seven each.
The Seasiders (11-12, 8-10 PacWest) got 13 points and six assists from Celeste Claw.
The Silverswords led for a majority of the first half and owned a 22-11 lead after Angle hit a pair of triples followed by one from Kaupu. BYUH rallied and took a 29-27 lead late in the second quarter but Angle hit her third 3-ball of the game to put the 'Swords up 30-29 at intermission.
Kawakami's layup to open the third quarter scoring put the home team up 32-29 before two straight buckets from Valerie Nawahine and Claw put the visitors ahead, 33-32. From there, the lead changed hands four times over the next four minutes before the Seasiders took back the lead at 40-39 on a basket from Devyn Kauhi. Henry hit a pair of foul shots to pull the 'Swords to within 44-42 with 2:51 left in the third.
But Chaminade then went ice cold from the floor as BYUH went on a 15-0 run over the next six minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters. Maio's layup finally ended the drought but it was too late as the Seasiders would lead by as many as 19.
The 'Swords abysmal second-half shooting offset a 41 percent display in the first half as they finished the contest at 34.5 percent. They managed to out-rebound BYUH, 44-36, and hit seven triples to the Seasiders' one. But Chaminade was only 10-of-19 from the free throw line while BYUH made 17 of its 25 tries. CUH also committed 21 turnovers to BYUH's 10.
The Silverswords face No. 18 Azusa Pacific Thursday at McCabe Gym in their penultimate game of the season.
