HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team made it two straight wins to start the season by downing Multnomah University, 72-68, Thursday at McCabe Gymnasium.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) led six Silverswords with at least seven points by hitting for a game-high 18 as Chaminade improved to 2-0 for the first time in program history.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy) added nine points while
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle),
Ashley Holen (Watford City, N.D./Minot State University/Watford City HS) and
Julien Parado (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) added eight each.
Madison Gage (Broomfield, Colo./Legacy) chipped in with seven. All 10 players who entered the game made at least one field goal.
Escobedo also hauled in 12 rebounds, dished out four assists and had four steals while Holen also had four dimes with Parado pulling down seven boards as Chaminade hammered Multnomah on the boards, 52-to-28.
Savannah Huerta had 16 points for the Lions (1-1), who made the trip to the islands for the third straight year. It was Chaminade's first-ever win over Multnomah's new head coach Reid Takatsuka, who previously ran the women's program at Hawai'i Pacific University for 10 years highly successful years. The 'Swords had previously lost all 24 games against Takatsuka-coached squads at HPU.
A highly competitive contest, the largest first half lead by either team was Chaminade's 35-29 edge with 89 seconds left to play.
But the 'Swords opened the second half on a 13-4 run, led by Elmasri's five points, giving them a 48-35 lead midway through the third quarter. A Parado jumper with 25 seconds left gave Chaminade its largest lead of the game at 57-42.
The Silverswords were able to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter to secure their second victory in as many games in the 2023-24 campaign.
Chaminade shot 40.9 percent from the floor and made 16-of-22 from the charity stripe. And although they were just 2-for-17 from 3-point range, they held the Lions to just 4-of-25 from distance with a 31.8 percent shooting percentage.
The 'Swords had 15 assists on the night to 20 turnovers while Multnomah had 12 assists and 15 giveaways.
After facing two NAIA squads, the competition ramps up significantly when the Silverswords face NCAA Division I member Saint Louis University in the North Shore Showcase at the BYU-Hawai'i campus in Laie. It will just the third time the program has faced a D-I opponent. Tipoff at the Cannon Activities Center is set for 2 p.m.
