HONOLULU – This was a tough one.
The Chaminade University women's basketball team was on the verge of forcing more hoops action but it never came thanks to a most improbable shot.
The Silverswords on Tuesday closed out their six-game home stand with a 67-64 defeat to the University of Hawai'i Hilo in the first meeting of the season between the two rivals. Kamalu Kamakawiwoole, a career 31 percent 3-pointer shooter with 18 career triples during her 43-game Vulcan career entering the evening, did her best Stephen Curry impersonation by knocking down a stand-up 30-footer as time expired to leave the McCabe Gymnasium crowd stunned.
Just three seconds earlier, freshman
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) hit a 10-footer that tied the game which helped the 'Swords rally from a 13-point third-quarter deficit.
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy), who had her 54-game scoring streak snapped Saturday, came off the bench for the first time since New Year's Eve of 2022, and responded with a season-high 21 points in the loss, 13 in the second half.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) also came off the bench and collected her third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out four assists.
Ashley Holen (Watford City, N.D./Minot State University/Watford City HS) added nine points in the scoring ledger while Escobedo had eight points, five rebounds and six assists. Chaminade fell to 3-16 on the season and 1-13 in the Pacific West Conference while seeing their string of consecutive losses to UH Hilo extend to 13 straight. But it was also their smallest margin of defeat to the Vulcans since last beating them on March 2, 2019.
Kamakawiwoole led the Vulcans (7-11, 4-8 PacWest) with 21 points to help them get a point in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
The 'Swords never led in the game and trailed by double-digits on multiple occasions including by 10 at halftime (34-24). The Vulcans led by as many as 13 late in the third quarter before Martinez had five points during a 7-0 'Swords run which helped narrow the deficit to eight at the end of the period.
UH Hilo seemed poised to turn out the lights, holding on to a 10-point lead with 5:20 left but Holen accounted for five during Chaminade's 8-2 run, drawing them to 58-54 with three minutes left. Down by six with 88 seconds remaining, Elmasri knocked down two free throws then hit a layup on the 'Swords' next possession, narrowing the deficit to just two with 31 seconds on the clock.
Kamakawiwoole made two free throws to make it a four-point UH Hilo edge with 20 seconds left. Martinez followed with two free throws and, on the ensuing Vulcans' possession, an offensive foul gave the ball back to Chaminade with eight seconds left. Escobedo then drove the right side of the lane and hit a pull-up jumper with three seconds left, giving the 'Swords their first tie of the game.
The outcome seemed destined to go into overtime, Chaminade's first since February 2017, but Kamakawiwoole received the inbounds pass, squared up and fired from 30 feet out, improbably hitting nothing but net as the horn sounded.
The Silverswords, who shot 33.3 percent the first three quarters, made 9-of-14 in the final period, giving them a 40.3 game field goal percentage. They made five 3-pointers but were just 9-of-18 from the free throw line. They pulled in 38 rebounds, dished out 16 assists and had just eight turnovers, their fewest since playing at Azusa Pacific approximately a year ago Tuesday.
UH Hilo shot 42.4 percent with three 3-pointers, 14-of-21 from the free throw line, with 37 boards, 11 assists and nine giveaways.
The two teams won't have to wait very long to get re-acquainted. The rematch is this Saturday at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
