HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team's first-ever win against a non-Pacific West Conference foe came in dramatic fashion from their best player.
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) poured in 33 points Wednesday including an off-balanced 33-footer as time expired to rally the Silverswords to a stunning 79-77 win over Minot State in the O'ahu Thanksgiving Classic at Saint Francis School Gymnasium.
Chaminade overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit with just three minutes left to play by outscoring the Beavers 19-5 down the stretch. Castro led the charge with 21 of her points coming in the fourth, 16 in the final three minutes alone.
Castro also ripped down 10 rebounds for her 11th career double-double and added five assists and three steals for good measure. She also made a career-high five 3-pointers.
Diamond Carter (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Olympic College/Kapolei HS) also recorded a double-double – the first of her career – with 20 points and 10 boards as the Silverswords also picked up their first-ever win in the month of November, evening their record to 1-1 on the year.
Since women's basketball first began in 2006, the 'Swords had dropped 58 consecutive contests to non-conference foes entering Wednesday's matchup.
The Beavers (3-1) had a pair of 17-point scorers in Madison Wald and Mariah Payne as they suffered their first loss of the season.
Hunter Liftee (Kamuela, Hawai'i/Central Methodist Univ./Honoka'a HS) contributed with 15 points in the win.
After trailing for all but the first 33 seconds of the game, the 'Swords found themselves down by as many as 13 at the midway point in the fourth quarter and faced a 72-60 deficit with just 3:04 remaining in the game.
But that's where Castro, the team's All-PacWest guard, took over. The junior completed a three-point play with 2:47 left which seemed to ignite the 'Swords offense. Castro then got a steal and breakaway layup on Minot State's next possession to reduce the margin to 72-65. A bucket from Payne proved to be a mere speed bump as Castro then buried a triple on the ensuing Chaminade possession to make it 74-70 with a minute left.
Down 76-70 with just 30 seconds left and time running out, Castro and Liftee each hit clutch triples, the latter's reducing the deficit to just 77-76 with a mere seven seconds left. After a Chaminade foul, Minot State kept the door open by missing its two free throw tries leading to Castro racing down the right sideline for her pull-up game-winner at the buzzer.
Chaminade's 32 fourth-quarter points set a program record for a single quarter while the team's 12 made 3-pointers tied the program's single-game record. The 'Swords made 10 of their 17 shots in the fourth with six of them coming as either three-point plays or 3-point shots. Along with Castro and Liftee hitting triples, Carter made her only 3-point attempt of the quarter while
Grace Underhill (Forest River, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) completed a three-point play to open the fourth.
Meanwhile Castro moved into fourth in the program's all-time scoring list with 675 points, passing Shana Kawakami who has 644. Her 33-point performance is the fourth-highest in a single-game and just the sixth 30-point game in program history.
The Silverswords conclude the Classic on Friday against Northwestern Oklahoma State at McCabe Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m.
