HONOLULU – In their home finale of the 2021-22 season, the Chaminade University women's basketball team would like to have a do-over of Tuesday's first quarter against Fresno Pacific.
Take away the first 10 minutes and the Silverswords went toe-to-toe with the Sunbirds in their 62-46 loss at McCabe Gymnasium.
Chaminade made just one field goal in the first quarter and were outscored 23-5 in the frame. However in the final 30 minutes, they out-pointed FPU, 41-39.
The loss dropped the 'Swords to 1-17 overall and 0-14 in the Pacific West Conference.
Playing in the final home game of her career,
Michaella Dean (Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran), went out in style with 17 points and 12 rebounds, her fourth career double-double, all of which have come in the past 22 days. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, each one of her rebounds and all but one point came in the final three quarters. Dean also dished out a team-high three assists.
Maesyn Rix led Fresno Pacific (7-11, 4-9 PacWest) with 13 points.
The game, which was a makeup of the Jan. 6 postponement, took nine minutes shy of two hours to complete. It also saw the two teams combine for 52 fouls and five total players foul out.
Paige Relph (Las Vegas/Waianae, Hawai'i, HS) had 10 points and two blocks for the 'Swords.
The 'Swords got off to a ragged start, making just 1-of-17 shots in the first stanza and trailed 23-6. However, Dean got them back on track with a layup 21 seconds into the second quarter.
Emma Morris (Tucson, Ariz./Tanque Verde) hit the team's only 3-pointer 48 seconds later.
However, Chaminade was not able to make a run to chop into the deficit, which hovered between 15 and 23 points the remainder of the game.
The 'Swords made 25.4 percent of their shots but did make 15-of-23 free throws and had 36 rebounds. They also had 21 bench points, led by five from senior
Jamia Bailey (Yokosuka, Japan/Yokota).
Fresno Pacific hit 36.8 percent of its shots, made 17-of-32 shots from the charity stripe and pulled down 50 boards.
Aside from Dean and Bailey, seniors playing in their final games at McCabe Gym were
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas),
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) and
Jenna McLean (Snohomish, Wash./Cal State Bakersfield/Glacier Peak HS).
The Silverswords will end their season with a pair of road games, starting Friday, Feb. 25 at Hawai'i Hilo followed by their season finale at Hawai'i Pacific on Feb. 27.
