LAIE, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University women's basketball suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, 109-63, to Saint Louis University in the North Shore Showcase.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) led the Silverswords with 13 points while
Madison Gage (Broomfield, Colo./Legacy) added 11 with a team-high six rebounds.
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) had 10 points and five assists while
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) had seven
Playing inside the Cannon Activities Center for the first time since December 2016 when BYU-Hawai'i shut down its intercollegiate athletics program, the Silverswords fell to 2-1.
The Billikens, the defending Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament champions, got a game-high 19 points from Kyla McMakin in improving to 3-1 on the season.
The 'Swords, facing a NCAA Division I team for just the third time in program history, managed to hang around in the first quarter, trailing by a respectable 22-10 count at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Saint Louis increased the margin to 22 late in the second but Chaminade managed to cut into the deficit on a Gage triple and an Escobedo jumper to trail 48-29 at the break.
However, the Billikens used a 32-17 third quarter to pull away.
The 'Swords shot 32.9 percent from the floor and hit 12-of-20 from the foul line while Saint Louis shot at a 54.3 percent clip and were 13-of-14 from the free throw line
The big difference was on the boards where the Billikens out-rebounded the Silverswords, 66-to-21, including 21-to-6 on the offensive end, leading to 29-4 in second-chance points.
The Silverswords will face their first Division II opponent of the season Friday against Northwestern Oklahoma State in the Hoops in Hawai'i Thanksgiving Classic at the Hawai'i Pacific University's Shark Tank. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
