BELMONT, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's basketball team saw their two-game winning streak snapped Thursday by falling to Notre Dame de Namur, 71-50 at the Walter Gleason Gymnasium.
In the loss, however,
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS), already the owner of multiple team records, added perhaps the most prestigious one to her legacy.
The senior guard scored a game-high 20 points, passing former teammate Lilia Maio to become the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,284.
Castro tied Maio's standard of 1,266 on a driving layup down the left side of the lane at the 4:34 mark of the first quarter. Then with 9 seconds left in the period, she drilled the first of two free throws for her history-making 1,267th point.
In addition to her offensive production, she also added six rebounds, three steals and two assists. She also extended her consecutive free throws made streak to 15 before having it snapped in the fourth quarter.
The Silverswords fell to 2-7 overall and 2-2 in the Pacific West Conference.
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) came off the bench to contributed with nine points and three assists for the 'Swords while fellow sophomore
Grace Underhill (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) also helped with their bench scoring with eight. Bankofier also had three assists which tied her season high.
Cheyenne Jankulovski led the Argonauts (3-7, 1-3 PacWest) with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
NDNU never looked back after jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter. Castro got the 'Swords back to within seven (18-11) after hitting her record-setting free throws at the end of the first followed by a bucket on the opening possession of the second.
The 'Swords managed to keep the deficit to seven but a Jankulovski layup midway through the quarter gave the Argos a double-digit lead they kept for the remainder of the game.
Both teams did not shoot particularly well in the first half with Chaminade at 24.1 percent and Notre Dame de Namur at 34.4 at halftime. Rebounds were even at 22 but the Argos made five 3-pointers to the 'Swords' one.
NDNU also did not commit a turnover in the first half and did not have a giveaway until
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) forced a steal near midcourt 38 seconds into the third quarter.
Castro and Bankofier tried to keep the 'Swords within striking distance with 13 and seven second-half points, respectively, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
The 'Swords finished with a 31.3 percent shooting percentage (20-of-64), were 3-of-16 from long range and 7-of-11 from the free throw line. NDNU owned a 40.3 percentage from the field, sank 10 triples and made all 11 free throws. Chaminade had 38 rebounds with Underhill,
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) and
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) each pulling down five, one shy of Castro's team-high. The Argos had 46 total boards.
CUH committed just seven turnovers, which is the second fewest in team history while NDNU had nine, keeping the game relatively clean.
The 'Swords also committed just eight personal fouls – tied for the second-lowest in single-game history – to the Argos' 11.
The Silverswords wrap up their road trip Saturday at Dominican.
