SAN FRANCISCO – The Chaminade University women's basketball team on Sunday opened their Northern California road trip with a 70-51 loss to Academy of Art at the historic Kezar Pavilion.
Ashley Holen (Watford City, N.D./Minot State University/Watford City HS) paced the Silverswords with 11 points while
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) added nine more and 10 rebounds, the freshman's second double-digit rebound game this year.
Amaya Washington (Peoria, Ariz./Dream City Christian) chipped in with eight points, scoring all eight from the free throw line, and six boards followed by
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) with seven points and five boards.
Yasmine Sifaoui, a 6-foot-2 forward, had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Urban Knights, who improved to 2-6 and 1-1 in the Pacific West Conference.
Chaminade, playing at Kezar for the first time in nearly three years, is also 2-6 while falling to 0-3 in the conference.
The 'Swords started with buckets from Elmasri, and Escobedo for an early 7-4 lead but made just one field the next 19 minutes, allowing ART U to take a 25-16 midway through the second quarter. A jumper from
Sasha Phillip (Hau'ula, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Baptist) followed by two Washington free throws allowed Chaminade to close to within 27-22 before a Maddie Morrow 3-pointer put the Urban Knights up 37-26 at halftime.
The 'Swords, who made just six shots after the first 20 minutes, made eight in the third quarter alone, keeping them within striking distance at 53-45 entering the final period.
However, Chaminade made just one of their first 10 shots of the fourth quarter, allowing the Urban Knights to pull away.
The Silverswords shot 27 percent from the floor with three triples. Although they made 27 trips to the free throw line, Chaminade made just 14. They also pulled in 46 rebounds, dished out five assists to 16 turnovers.
Academy of Art shot 38.9 percent from the floor, made eight 3-pointers and was 6-of-10 from the charity stripe. The home team had 50 rebounds, 14 assists with 13 giveaways.
The Silverswords will face Dominican University of California on Tuesday to complete their NorCal road trip.
