HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team opened Pacific West Conference action Wednesday with a 64-49 loss to Concordia University Irvine at McCabe Gymnasium.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy) paced the Silverswords with 12 points, hitting four of her five shots from both the floor and free throw line.
Mary-Lee Mitchell (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) added 10 and a team-high five rebounds.
Michaela VanderKlugt led the Eagles with 17 points and eight boards.
Chaminade fell to 1-4 and 0-1 in the PacWest while the Concordia improved to 4-3 while evening their conference record to 1-1.
Lile Hina Oyama (Honolulu/Kalani) pitched in with seven points off the bench for Chaminade followed by
Jordyn Zader (Mukwonago, Wis./Pius XI) with six.
Concordia led wire-to-wire although the 'Swords battled back from a first-quarter 19-5 deficit by ending the stanza on an 8-0 run with two Oyama layups and two free throws each from
Paige Relph (Las Vegas/Waianae, Hawai'i, HS) and
Jamia Bailey (Yokosuka, Japan/Yokota).
Chaminade would not allow Concordia to pull away in the second quarter, playing them near-evenly and trailed 32-23 at halftime.
The 'Swords also stayed with the Eagles through the third, closing to within 40-33 late in the quarter. But CUI opened the fourth on a 18-8 run which pushed their lead to 20 and were never threatened again.
Chaminade's defense did force Concordia to shoot just 37.3 percent from the field and just 5-of-22 from 3-point range while forcing 22 CUI giveaways. The Eagles, however, controlled the glass by a 45-to-20 count and out-scored the 'Swords, 18-2, in second-chance points.
The Silverswords will face Point Loma on Saturday at McCabe Gym, the team's final home game of the 2021 calendar year. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
