HONOLULU – For the Chaminade University women's basketball team, their along awaited victory against in-city rival Hawai'i Pacific University will have to wait at least a couple of more weeks.
Despite playing one of their better games of the 2022 calendar year, the Silverswords fell short of the Sharks, 74-63, Friday at McCabe Gymnasium in what was Senior Night for five 'Swords (1-16, 0-13 Pacific West Conference). The loss extended their losing streak to HPU to 37 games, dating back to the final game of the 2006-07 season.
One of the seniors,
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) posted team highs of 14 points and 13 rebounds, her third double-double in both her season and career while her double-digit boards is her seventh in her past 10 games. She also had five assists, three steals and a block.
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer), another senior, had 10 points and nine rebounds while
Jamia Bailey (Yokosuka, Japan/Yokota) had a career-high nine points in her first career start.
For CUH's other two seniors,
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackmas) had six points, three rebounds and two blocks while
Jenna McLean (Snohomish, Wash./Cal State Bakersfield/Glacier Peak HS) had a rebound and a steal.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy) provided Chaminade with 12 points, four assists and three steals while
Emma Morris (Tuscon, Ariz./Tanque Verde) had 10, a season high.
Allison Ross had 18 points for the Sharks (5-14, 2-10 PacWest) who snapped their 13-game losing streak. The win gave acting head coach Darren Vorderbruegge, who is the longtime HPU men's coach, his first win with the women. Ironically, he was not there to enjoy the victory due to health and safety protocols. Roger Kiyomura served as Sharks coach.
Seniors accounted for Chaminade's first 10 points of the game with Blowe, Bailey and Bankofier each hitting buckets although they trailed 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The 'Swords managed to hang with the Sharks for much of the second quarter, still trailing by just seven (32-25) at halftime.
Chaminade cut the deficit down to four when Bailey buried her first career 3-pointer on the team's opening possession of the second half. Although HPU pushed its lead back to 12 midway through the third quarter, the Silverswords did not allow the deficit to swell further as Martinez hit a triple and a layup on consecutive possessions to bring them to within 50-43.
A layup from Dean less than a minute into the fourth quarter made it 55-49 but the Sharks had an answer for nearly each Silverswords' score as they were able to maintain a high single-digit lead towards the final seconds.
After combining for just 22 total field goals in their last two games, the 'Swords made 29-of-72 shots for 40.3 percent, their best rate in two months. They also had 34 rebounds, 14 assists and five blocks, eight steals and 12 turnovers.
The Sharks hit 46.3 percent from the floor with six triples, pulled down 39 boards with nine assists. They also were 18-of-29 from the charity stripe while Chaminade made just five trips to the line.
HPU's victory guarantees that Hawai'i Hilo will capture the women's basketball first-place points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
Although there was a postgame celebration to recognize the five seniors, the Silverswords will have one more shot for a conference win at McCabe Gym. They will face Fresno Pacific on Tuesday, a makeup of the Jan. 6 contest that was postponed to due to health and safety protocols. Tipoff is at 3:30 p.m., two hours ahead than normal to allow FPU to return to the mainland later in the evening.
