HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team returned to Pacific West Conference action Saturday but suffered a 71-46 loss to Biola at McCabe Gymnasium.
For the second straight game,
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) paced the Silverswords with a team-high 13 points while
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Name HS) followed with 12 while pulling down seven rebounds.
Cheyenne Ardona (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) added 10 points, making 5-of-6 shots from the floor along with six boards.
The 'Swords fell to 2-10 overall and 2-4 in the Pacific West Conference.
Biola's Kayla Macedo came off the bench for a team-high 14 points as the Eagles improved to 9-4 and 5-2 in the conference.
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS), who missed Thurday's contest against Division I Pennsylvania because of an illness, had five points in her return followed by
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) with four and
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) with two. Dean also had a team-best three assists while Castro had three steals to increase her career-leading total in the category to 241.
Two days after making just three two-point baskets against Penn, the 'Swords made 16 shots inside the 3-point arc but were just 3-of-15 beyond it. Despite shooting just 38 percent from the floor, they managed to hold Biola to just 43.8 percent. They also out-rebounded the Eagles, 36-32.
However the 'Swords undoing was 26 turnovers which Biola converted to 29 points through 19 steals.
The Eagles outscored the Silverswords 24-9 in the third quarter to pull away.
Chaminade returns to action on Monday when it hosts Fresno Pacific at McCabe Gym with a special start time of 3:30 p.m.
