HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball ended the 2019-20 season Thursday by dropping a 60-52 decision to the University of Hawai'i Hilo at McCabe Gymnasium.
Four seniors celebrated their final career games with one of them practically re-writing the Silverswords' record books.
Guard
Destiny Castro (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) ended perhaps one of the greatest careers by a CUH women's basketball player with 13 points, five rebounds and three steals, closing a chapter never seen before in the brief 14-year history of the program.
Castro, the 5-foot-6 guard, finished with 1,648 points and 293 steals, both school records by a wide margin. Her 513 points this season also snapped the record of 501 she set last season.
Those marks are just three of the 20 career, single-season and single-game records she owns. Her point total ranks fifth all-time in Pacific West Conference history while her steals mark is tied for second in conference history and seven shy of the PacWest record held by Grand Canyon's Samantha Murphy.
Castro finishes as the career-leading scorer among Division II players in Hawai'i while she ranks fourth in the history of collegiate women's basketball in Hawai'i, regardless of division.
Fellow senior and Guamanian teammate
Kali Benavente (Tamuning, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam) also played her final game, tallying six points, five rebounds and an assist. Benavente finished her career with 163 assists, fourth all-time in Chaminade history. She also played in her 91st career game which is tied for sixth while her 82 starts is fifth all-time.
Fellow senior
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) five points and a career-high two blocked shots while the fourth senior,
Kirstin Wong (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel), a four-year soccer standout who joined the team midseason after injuries decimated the team, saw two minutes of action.
Chaminade ended the season 4-24 overal and 4-18 in the PacWest.
UH Hilo (10-15, 9-12 PacWest) was paced by Allie Navarette, the PacWest's second leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds.
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) had 11 points on three 3-pointers for the 'Swords while
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) had eight points and nine rebounds.
Cheyenne Ardona (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) added seven points and five boards.
The Vulcans managed to build an eight-point lead early but an 8-0 Chaminade run spanning the first and second quarters helped them to draw even at 18. The 'Swords got their first lead since early in the game on Blowe's driving layup then after Navarette, the 6-foot center hit a rare 3-pointer to tie it at 29, Castro's foul-line jumper gave Chaminade a 31-29 halftime lead.
UH Hilo retook the advantage in the third quarter and held a 47-43 edge with seven minutes left but Bankofier sank back-to-back triples to put the 'Swords up 49-47. Navarette answered with layup and a free throw which put the Vulcans up 50-49 with 2:20 remaining. But the 'Swords couldn't answer on the other end and on UH Hilo's ensuing possession, Mandi Kawaha drove the lane for a layup and a three-point Vulcans lead (52-49). Castro's pull-up jumper with 1:21 left was off the mark and UH Hilo made their last eight free throws to pull out the win.
Chaminade shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the floor and snagged 35 rebounds. UH Hilo was 20-of-48 for 41.7 percent with 31 rebounds. However the Vulcans made eight 3-pointers while Chaminade had four.
UH Hilo's win completed the series sweep over Chaminade and gave them two points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge. It is the first time since 2016 the Vulcans won two straight against CUH and their first season sweep since 2013.
