AZUSA, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's basketball team on Monday continued their near two-week-long road trip, dropping a 78-57 decision to nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific at the Felix Events Center.
Mary-Lee Mitchell (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) led the Silverswords with 13 points while setting her career-high in rebounds for the second consecutive game with 11, the sophomore's second straight double-double.
Olivia Crigler (Hebron, Ky./Pacific Union College/Holy Cross HS) added 12 points for Chaminade which fell to 1-20 overall and 1-14 in the Pacific West Conference. Crigler buried four 3-pointers, her fourth straight contest achieving with the feat, which moved her into fourth in the program's all-time single-season list. The junior has 45 triples on the season and needs just six more to pass the single-season mark of 50 set by Samantha Saito in 2008-09.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy) added six points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for the 'Swords while
Paige Relph (Las Vegas/Waianae, Hawai'i) also posted six points on the evening.
Dezaray Carter (Honolulu/Sacred Hearts Academy) tied Martinez for high assist honors with three.
APU, ranked No. 18 in the WBCA Coaches Top 25 Poll and 23rd in the D2SIDA Media Poll, improved to 18-4 and a conference-best 13-1. TyLee Manuel led the Cougars with 20 points.
Chaminade's 21-point margin of defeat is the fewest against APU since a 14-point loss in February 2018.
Azusa Pacific, which has won all 16 meetings in the series, scored the first eight points of the game and owned a 23-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Cougars extended it to a 47-22 advantage at halftime.
Chaminade managed to hang with the Cougars in the final 20 minutes and outscored them, 23-14, in the fourth quarter.
The 'Swords shot at a 32.4 percent clip, making 5-of-19 triples and 6-of-9 free throws. They grabbed 40 rebounds and dished out 13 assists. Chaminade also committed just eight turnovers, the fewest since January 2019 when they had a program-low of six against Concordia University Irvine.
APU shot 42.9 percent from the floor and made 8-of-29 from long range but were just 4-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Cougars pulled down 59 boards and had 22 assists with 10 giveaways.
The Silverswords play the final game of their Southern California road swing Wednesday at Concordia before heading to the Central Valley to end their trip. Tipoff on Wednesday is 3 p.m. Hawai'i time.
