BELMONT, Calif. – On January 17, 2015, the Chaminade University women's basketball team celebrated their first-ever Mainland victory when they defeated Notre Dame de Namur.
A year later, the Silverswords showed that the win was no fluke.
Five 'Swords scored in double figures, led by
Lilia Maio's 16 points as Chaminade defeated the Argonauts for the second straight season at Walter Gleason Gymnasium, 79-70, on Saturday.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak and improved the Silverswords to 5-14 overall and 5-10 in the Pacific West Conference.
Courtney Kaupu and
Kristle Henry each had 14 points for the 'Swords while
Shana Kawakami and
Carissa McBride each added 12. Chaminade shot 50 percent from the floor, hitting 27 of its 54 attempts with Maio going 7-of-9 from the field.
Kawakami also had a game-high nine rebounds and a team-best five assists while Kaupu dropped four dimes. Maio and
Taylor Babbitt each cleaned the glass with six boards each.
NDNU (3-19, 2-12) was led by Jerusha Paine's 27 points and seven boards.
The 'Swords fell behind by as many as eight and trailed 16-10 at the end of the first quarter. After the Argos went up by 10 in the second, Chaminade rallied as Maio drained consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 24-23 with 3:38 left in the half. Kawakami's steal and layup gave the Silverswords their first lead of the game at 27-26 but NDNU rallied to grab a 33-32 lead at halftime.
The lead changed hands several times in the third quarter as
Sabrina Angle found her touch, hitting a pair of triples in the stanza and
Chantal Yadao knocked one as well but Chaminade still found itself trailing 53-48 at the end of the third.
NDNU led 62-56 with six minutes left but Chaminade rallied by scoring on five straight possessions with field goals by McBride, Maio and two Henry free throws helped forge a 66-all deadlock. Then with the Arogs looking to take the lead with two minutes left, Kawakami stripped Paine and raced down the court with a breakaway layup to give the 'Swords a 68-66 lead. Henry then made it a two-score game with a layup on the team's next possession.
The Silverswords made nine of their 10 free throw attempts in the final minute to seal the game with Henry making seven of eight.
Henry, a 56 percent free throw shooter on the season, made 12 of 14 from the charity stripe, both career-highs. It's the most free throws made by a 'Sword since Samantha Saito sank 16 in February 2008.
Chaminade recorded its highest field goal (50.0) and free throw (81.8) percentages of the season while holding NDNU to 48.1 percent from the field. The 'Swords buried seven triples, out-rebounded the Argos, 31-28, and forced 18 turnovers. They also had a higher assist-to-turnover number (18-16) for only the second time this season.
The Silverswords return to McCabe Gym Thursday when they face Hawai'i Pacific University and will attempt to snap a 21-game losing streak to their intercity rival dating back to February 2007. Live streaming audio coverage will be on GoSwords.com.
