HONOLULU –
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) accounted for nearly half of the Chaminade University women's basketball team's points Saturday to help guide the Silverswords to their first win of 2020.
Castro poured in 27 points in the team's 55-51 win over Notre Dame de Namur at McCabe Gymnasium, making 12-of-14 free throws and three 3-pointers to help Chaminade not only snap a six-game losing streak but a six-game slide to the Argonauts dating back to Feb. 2016. It was also their first home win this season.
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) added 12 in the win for the 'Swords who improved to 3-12 overall and 3-6 in the Pacific West Conference.
Cheyenne Ardona (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds while Castro had five steals.
Castro continued to add to her legacy with her 29th career 20-point game which is a school record. Already the program's all-time leading scorer, she now has 1,407 career points, becoming the first player in team history to reach 1,400.
Rachel Pau'u had 17 points and 13 boards for the Argos who fell to 3-12 overall and 1-8 in the PacWest.
Ardona and
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) each had six points in the win for Chaminade which shot 35.4 percent from the floor but held NDNU to just 34.5 and just 2-of-19 from 3-point range.
Despite being out-rebounded 43-29, the 'Swords forced 16 Argos turnovers and turned them into 16 points.
Chaminade led for nearly 34 minutes, its second-best this season, although it trailed for most of the first quarter. Blowe broke a 10-all tie early in the second quarter with a short jumper followed by Castro's next three buckets, all from beyond the arc to give them a 21-14 lead. A free throw after an Argos' technical foul put the 'Swords up 25-16 with 1:56 left in the first half which helped staked them to a 27-19 halftime edge.
Ardona then back-to-back shots to greet the second half to give Chaminade its largest lead at 31-19 but NDNU slowly chipped away at the deficit and got it down to just two early in the fourth quarter.
With the 'Swords clinging to a 49-46 lead with 2:44 left, the Silverswords forced two missed triples and a turnover over the next two minutes. They also made all six of their free throw ties inside of 35 seconds left with Castro sinking four and
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) two to hold off the Argos in the waning seconds.
For the game, Chaminade was 17 of 22 from the charity stripe to NDNU's 9-of-15.
The Silverswords will wrap up their six-game home stand on Monday against Dominican. Hawai'i Pacific Health is the game sponsor and fans are encouraged to wear pink. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
