HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team wrapped up their first six games of the season on O'ahu on Saturday with a 77-60 loss to Point Loma at McCabe Gymnasium.
However, the score did not reflect how close the game actually was.
For the first 30 minutes, the underdog Silverswords went punch-for-punch against the Sea Lions, one of the Pacific West Conference favorites before running out of steam in the final quarter.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whitter College/Sacred Hearts Academy) scored a season-high 17 points – one shy of her career high at Whitter College – with three assists for the 'Swords (1-5, 0-2 PacWest). They also got double-digit point efforts with a career-high 12 from
Sasha Phillip (Hau'ula, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Baptist Academy) and a season-high-tying11 from
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer).
Alix Henderson led Point Loma (6-2, 2-0 PacWest) with 18 points.
The physical game featured 51 combined fouls, 65 combined trips to the free throw line, a technical foul against the Sea Lions' bench and three players fouling out.
Chaminade, which ranks towards the bottom of the conference in field goal percentage, began scorching hot, hitting its first six shots of the game. Phillip had seven points during the stretch which helped stake the 'Swords to an early 14-8 lead four minutes in.
Eventually PLNU tied it at 16 to which the lead changed hands three times. Martinez's free throw with 19 seconds left in the quarter knotted the score at 19 but an 8-0 run spanning the first and second quarters would put them up by eight.
However the Silverswords fought their way back and got to within three points on three separate occasions, thanks to an old-fashion three-point play from
Jordyn Zader (Mukwonago, Wis./Pius XI), a layup from
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) and a pull-up 3-pointer from
Mary-Lee Mitchell (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis). The Sea Lions, who on Thursday led Hawai'i Pacific by 15 at halftime, had only a six-point edge against Chaminade.
Phillip scored half of Chaminade's points during an 8-0 third quarter run which tied it at 38. But the Sea Lions countered with a run of its own to go up 55-42. Martinez answered with five straight to cut the deficit to 56-47 at the end of the third.
However the 'Swords ran out of gas in the fourth, making just 2-of-11 field goals in the fourth quarter as Point Loma pulled away.
After shooting a blistering 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field in the first quarter, Chaminade couldn't sustain its hot shooting, going 12-of-42 in the final three. However they went to the free throw line 27 times with 19 makes, both being the most against a Division II opponent since the end of the 2019-20 season. Martinez hit 9-of-12 from the charity stripe with Zader making four of her seven tries.
Zader had nine points while Mitchell added five. Dean pulled down a team-high six rebounds, although the 'Swords were out-rebounded, 46-24. Blowe had all three of Chaminade's blocked shots and the 'Swords were able to force 17 Sea Lion turnovers.
PLNU made just under 43 percent of its shots (24-of-56), hit six triples and made 23 of its 38 free throws. Chaminade was hit with 26 fouls while Point Loma was tagged for 25.
The Silverswords will take next week off for finals then will make their first mainland trip in nearly two years on Sunday, Dec. 12 at Holy Names, the start of their Northern California road swing.
