HONOLULU – In the latest chapter of the intercity rivalry between the Chaminade University and Hawai'i Pacific University women's basketball teams, the Sharks once again bested the Silverswords.
Despite suffering an 88-62 loss at McCabe Gym on Saturday which dropped them to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the Pacific West Conference, Chaminade's
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) had a game for the ages.
The sophomore guard poured in 38 points, breaking the program's 11-year-old single-game scoring record previously held by Brittnee Fonnesbeck who had 36 in a loss to Central Washington on November 21, 2006, the first-ever game in Chaminade women's basketball history. She is only the second Silversword with a 30-point game in program history (Fonnesbeck has the other three 30-point performances, also coming in the 2006-07 season).
Castro hit 10 of her 21 shots from the floor and made a pair of 3-pointers. She also hit 16 of 23 from the foul line, the latter being a program record for attempts. Castro also hauled in eight rebounds and had two steals. She scored 21 of the team's 25 points in the fourth quarter. Her performance is the PacWest's highest scoring game by an individual this season.
"I felt good (during the game)," Castro said. "Having this being the record is pretty amazing. It was great having my teammates helping too."
No other Silversword had more than five points with
Diamond Carter (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Olympic College),
Alana Nuuanu (Nanakuli, Hawai'i/Nanakuli) and
Sephora Yayouss (Brussels, Belgium/Peninsula College) doing the honors.
Kali Benavente (Tamuning, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam) pulled down a season-best nine rebounds for the 'Swords.
Jessi Reeves had 16 points to lead the Sharks (5-2, 2-1 PacWest).
The first quarter, once again, proved to be a bane for the Silversword as they were outscored 28-10. Chaminade has been out-pointed a combined 102-39 in the opening 10 minutes in all four games this season, forcing them to play catchup.
Conversely, the 'Swords have won the second and fourth periods all year and Saturday was no exception as they outscored the Sharks 21-15 and 25-23 in the second and fourth, respectively.
Chaminade also demonstrated plenty of fight in the second quarter. Down 33-15 midway through,
Chloe Morrison (Edmonds, Wash./Archbishop Murphy) buried a triple to help spur an 18-8 run to chop the deficit to 41-30 in the final seconds of the first half.
However it was the closet they got as HPU expanded the lead in the third quarter to help put the game out of reach.
Despite being just 16-of-57 from the floor for 28.1 percent, the 'Swords feasted at the free throw line, making 27 of their 42 tries. The Sharks' taller lineup was 33 of 78 (42.3 percent) from the field and ripped down 63 rebounds to Chaminade's 35.
The 'Swords also went the entire game without an assist, marking the first time in program history that has happened.
The Silverswords return to action next Saturday when they host Hawai'i Hilo at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. with live streaming audio coverage on GoSwords.com.
