HONOLULU – On Feb. 22, 2007, the No. 1 song in America was Say it Right by Nelly Furtado. The country's top box office motion picture was Ghost Rider. People were starting to catch on to a new website called Facebook. And a revolutionary piece of technology was still four months away from being released, simply called the iPhone.
Also on that date, the Chaminade University women's basketball team defeated Hawai'i Pacific University, 68-60 at Kilauea Gym.
Little did anyone know at the time but it would be over a decade-and-a-half before the Silverswords would again post a W against their in-city counterparts.
On Thursday, the 'Swords celebrated their first win over HPU in nearly 17 years, thanks to their 77-66 victory at McCabe Gymnasium.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) tied her season-high with 18 points and set another with 11 rebounds while
Ashley Holen (Watford City, N.D./Minot State University/Watford City HS) added 17 more.
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) posted her first career double-digit scoring game with 12 in helping Chaminade snap their 40-game losing streak to HPU.
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) added eight points and eight rebounds while
Sasha Phillip (Hau'ula, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Baptist), making her first start this season, had a season-high eight including a huge field goal late in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy) dished out five assists as the 'Swords ended their 13-game slide to improve to 3-13 and 1-10 in the Pacific West Conference game. It also snapped their 26-game conference skid.
Megan Jones led the Sharks (4-9, 2-5 PacWest) with 13 points.
Both teams were busy at the free throw line, thanks to a combined 58 fouls. Chaminade went to the line 42 times, making 32, the second-highest in program history, just one behind the record-33 makes against Hawai'i Hilo in March 2007. Meanwhile HPU was 22-of-33 from the charity stripe.
The 'Swords led for over 32 minutes in the contest as compared to HPU which was ahead in the scoreboard for nearly two-and-a-half minutes with its last lead (22-20) coming at the 8:02 mark of the second quarter. Knotted at 25 with six minutes left,
Julien Parado (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) knocked down a turnaround jumper in the lane, starting a half-ending 16-4 run with Phillip getting six points during the stretch, helping the 'Swords to a 41-29 halftime lead.
The Silverswords made just two shots in the third quarter but managed to keep a 57-51 lead thanks to a 12-of-14 performance from the free throw line in the stanza.
HPU managed to cut its deficit to 66-61 midway through the fourth but Schuetze extended the lead to seven on a driving layup. On the ensuing Chaminade possession, Phillip came up clutch, burying a 22-foot left-wing jumper, giving them a 70-61 lead with 2:56 remaining. The Sharks got to within 70-65 with 1:40 left but Holen and Elmasri combined to make seven of eight free throws to secure their first win over HPU since most of the current roster were still in preschool.
Chaminade shot 36.8 percent from the field and took just 13 3-pointers with three makes. The 'Swords also out-rebounded the Sharks, 50-to-42, just the ninth 50-rebound game in team history. They also had 11 assists and 12 turnovers with three blocks, two from Holen.
The win also snapped a streak of 24 straight defeats to Hawai'i foes and gave them their first PacWest Hawai'i Challenge point since March 2019.
The Sharks shot 29 percent from the floor and were just 8-of-27 from the 3-point arc. HPU had 12 assists to 15 turnovers and six blocks.
The Silverswords will get a week off and are next in action against two-time defending PacWest champion Azusa Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 25. Tipoff at McCabe Gym is set for 5:30 p.m.
