HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team ended a run of 10 straight games on O'ahu – nine at McCabe Gymnasium – with an 84-55 loss to Academy of Art on Monday.
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's game against Concordia Irvine with an illness to post a game-high 23 points on the evening while adding five rebounds and five steals.
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) added nine points and five more boards with
Cheyenne Ardona (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) providing seven points for the Silverswords who fell to 4-16 overall and 4-10 in the Pacific West Conference.
Kali Benavente (Tamuning, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam) chipped in with six points while
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) and
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) had four each.
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) had Chaminade's other two points.
Josselyn Morris paced the Urban Knights (6-10, 4-8 PacWest) with 19 points, hitting six 3-pointers.
Trailing 6-2 lead after two minutes of play, Chaminade's defense went to work and held ART U to without a field goal for the next five minutes. However the 'Swords could not buy a basket either and did not get their first field goal until Nueku knocked down a triple with less than a minute left in the first quarter. But seven free throws managed to keep them within striking distance after the first 10 minutes to trail 23-12.
After Blowe's layup got the 'Swords back to single digits at 23-14 on their first possession of the second quarter, the Urban Knights went on a 13-2 run to open up a 20-point lead that they could not recover.
Castro had 15 second-half points, 11 in the final quarter to help Chaminade outscore ART U 20-14 during the final stanza. But, despite having five steals in the first half, she was not able to get another in the final 20 minutes.
The 'Swords shot 37.5 percent in the game to the Urban Knights' 47.7. Chaminade took just eight shots from long range while ART U fired up 33 from 3-point territory, making 11. The Urban Knights also out-rebounded the 'Swords, 39-29, and had 17 assists to Chaminade's three.
The loss snapped the 'Swords' three-game winning streak against Academy of Art. And with Castro's 23 points which gives her 1,490 in her career, Chaminade's all-time leading scorer moved past BYU-Hawai'i's Richelle Rieben (1,473) and Hawai'i Pacific's Breanna Mackenzie (1,485) to second in the history of Hawai'i Division II collegiate women's basketball scorers. She needs just five to pass HPU's Mana Hopkins (1,494).
Paris Gravely, an assistant coach for the 'Swords, ranks fifth on the list after a successful career at HPU.
The Silverswords will begin a six-game road trip starting Sunday when they face Hawai'i Hilo on the Big Island. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
Hawai'i Collegiate Division II All-Time Leading Scorers
1. 1,494; Mana Hopkins, Hawai'i Pacific (2008-12)
2. 1,490; Destiny Castro, Chaminade (2016-present)
3. 1,485; Breanna Mackenzie, Hawai'i Pacific (2014-19)
4. 1,473; Richelle Rieben, BYU-Hawai'i (2007-11)
5. 1,279;
Paris Gravely, Hawai'i Pacific (2008-12)
