Women’s Hoops Gets Past Holy Names

HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team made several timely plays down the stretch on Thursday in a gritty 69-63 win over Holy Names at McCabe Gymnasium.
 
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) scored 13 of her season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help the Silverswords improve to 4-14 overall and 4-8 in the Pacific West Conference.
 
Castro also had 10 rebounds for her second double-double in three games, the 16th in her career. She also had six steals on the night.
 
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) added nine points while Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) added eight points. Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) contributed with six point including a clutch bucket with 1:39 left to make it a two-possession game.
 
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) had 11 rebounds and four assists, both game highs, for Chaminade.
 
Gernijah Martin led Holy Names (1-13, 1-9 PacWest) with 16 points.
 
Prior to tipoff, Castro was honored for becoming the program's all-time leading scorer, a standard she set last month. She then proceeded to put up the fourth-highest scoring game in team history, her sixth career game of 30 or more points. By halftime, Castro was nearly on pace to record the program's first-ever triple-double with 10 points, six boards and four steals.

 
The 'Swords led the game for over 30 minutes although the Hawks had leads in the first quarter. Chaminade would gain a nine-point edge in the second and, after opening the third quarter on a 7-0 run, owned its largest lead of 10 (35-25) of the game.
 
But HNU went on a 9-1 run in the third, gaining a 44-43 edge, its first lead since the first quarter.
 
Tied at 51 with 7:45 remaining in the game, the 'Swords took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Cheyenne Ardona (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani), who tacked on a layup on Chaminade's next possession.
 
Castro helped keep the 'Swords in front, scoring seven of their next nine points although the Hawks seemingly had answers on each score. After Holy Names made it 63-61, Blowe came up large, knocking down a 10-foot baseline jumper with time winding down on the shot clock to put Chaminade up 65-61.
 
Martin sank a basket on the next Hawks' possession but the 'Swords came up with two offensive rebounds including one by Bankofier off a missed CUH free throw with 51 seconds remaining. The extra possession helped Chaminade run off even more valuable time off the clock, resulting in Castro's driving layup with 28 seconds left to put them ahead 67-63. Castro, who is also the program's all-time steals leader, punctuated the game with a steal and two free throws with 4 seconds remaining.
 
Although shooting just 36.9 percent from the floor, the 'Swords held the Hawks to 41.7 and out-rebounded them, 45-40. They also feasted at the free throw line, making 19-of-32 while Holy Names was just 7-of-18.
 
For Chaminade it was its third consecutive victory over Holy Names, which also gives them the overall lead in the series at 8-7. It is the second-most victories against a single opponent, only behind Hawai'i Hilo in which they have 10.
 
The Silverswords face Concordia Irvine on Saturday at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.