Written by Megan Summers
HONOLULU – After winning their previous game by a close score of 55-51 against Notre Dame De Namur, the Chaminade University women's basketball team returned to the McCabe Gymnasium floor on Monday to face Dominican University of California. The game was designated a Pink Out Game sponsored by Hawaii Pacific Health.
Appearing on both rosters were two names who have brought great attention to the Pacific West Conference. Coming into the matchup, the Silverswords'
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS), who entered the evening ranked second in the conference at 18.1 points per game, in scoring faced off against Dominican's, Jerusha Paine, the nation's leading scorer at 25.5 points per outing.
But in the end, it was Paine who won not only the personal battle but the team's one as well.
Paine poured in 36 points to lead the Penguins to a 71-53 win over the 'Swords. Castro countered with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Chaminade, which wrapped up a six-game home stand, fell to 3-13 on the year and 3-7 in the PacWest while Dominican improved to 6-8 and 3-5.
Dominican opened up the game with a 3-point shot made by Jordan Charlton but Chaminade's
Breann Nueku (Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) put the first two points on the board for Chaminade with free throws. Throughout the first quarter, Chaminade continually spread out the points throughout their teammates. As the quarter came to a close, Paine carried Dominican with 16 of her team's 21 points while Chaminade trailed with 13.
Nueku started off the second quarter with a 3-point shot. As the game progressed, Dominican held together a wide-and-tight defense causing the 'Swords to drive to hoop and potentially draw fouls.
Kali Benavente (Tamuning, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam) and Nueku kept the team afloat with eight and seven points respectively. Meanwhile, Castro had racked up 10 rebounds and snuck in one of her two game blocks with 25 seconds remaining although Dominican still held a 36-23 lead at halftime.
Nueku contributed six points of the team's 13 during the third quarter. Castro fired off a 3-pointer with 1:13 remaining in the period to help pick up the intensity heading into the fourth quarter.
With the fourth coming to a close, the Silverswords continued showed no quit with a press to the end.
Nueku lead the team's charge with a season-high 15 points including going 4-for-4 from the free throw line, followed by Castro's 13 points and Benavente's 12.
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) had six points, five boards and three assists.
Meanwhile Paine's 36 points set a Chaminade opponent record, breaking the previous mark of 35 held by Dixie State's Haley Holmstead set in February 2014. Sietta Shackelford added 12 points for DUC while Sydney Larocca had nine rebounds.
Following Castro's PacWest Defender of the Week title, she instilled her defensive leadership by leading the game with 13 rebounds, a season high.
Chaminade excelled with 12 fastbreak points to Dominican's two and forced 18 Penguins turnovers, turning those into 20 points. The 'Swords shot 36.7 percent from the floor while Dominican was at 39 percent. The Penguins also held the rebounding edge, 41-36.
The Silverswords' next court action will be on Thursday where they will face intercity rival Hawai'i Pacific University at The Shark Tank, the site of the former Saint Francis School in Manoa Valley. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30pm.
