HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with an 82-62 loss to Minnesota State at the O'ahu Thanksgiving Classic Thursday at St. Francis School Gym.
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) led the Silverswords (0-1) with team-highs of 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals. She also co-led with
Kali Benavente (Tamuning, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam) in assists with three. Benavente added 10 points.
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College) made her 'Swords debut with 12 points and six boards.
Taylor Drost led the Mavericks (1-4) with 14 points.
Another Silversword newcomer, freshman
Alana Nuuanu (Nanakuli, Hawai'i/Nanakuli) had nine points in her first collegiate game
The loss spoiled the head coaching debut of
Arthur King, an assistant the previous five years for the 'Swords men's hoops squad.
Chaminade clearly felt the jitters early, falling behind 19-2 just five minutes into the season. But a 22-11 run by the 'Swords spanning the late first and early second quarters capped by a
Diamond Carter (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Olympic College) 3-pointer narrowed the gap to just six before MSU extended their lead back to a nine-point edge at halftime. Carter had six points in the contest in her first game in a Chaminade uniform.
The Silverswords fell behind by 11 on a Claire Ziegler layup on the first possession of the third quarter and were never able to cut the deficit back to single digits for the remainder of the game.
Chaminade was held to 33.8 percent shooting (22-of-65) while Minnesota State was at a 48 percent clip. The Mavericks also outrebounded the 'Swords, 53-28.
The Silverswords are next in action on Thursday, Nov. 30, when they open Pacific West Conference action against Concordia University Irvine in the home opener at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. with live streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
