HONOLULU – When the Chaminade University women's basketball defeated Hawai'i Pacific University last January, it snapped a streak of 40 straight defeats in the series spanning nearly 17 years.
They didn't have to wait very long to earn their second.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) scored a career-high 27 points including the game-winning free throws with 38 seconds left to help the Silverswords survive HPU's furious fourth quarter rally in their 73-69 win at McCabe Gymnasium in the latest battle between the two in-city rivals.
The senior guard, whose previous career high was 24 at her previous school at Birmingham-Southern in November 2022, also pulled in five rebounds and was 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Her total is the most by a Silversword since Destiny Castro, the program's all-time leading scorer, poured in 27 against Notre Dame de Namur on Jan. 11, 2020.
Dezaray Carter (Honolulu/Sacred Hearts Academy) tied her career best with 12 points and three assists in the win as the Silverswords improved to 3-5 on the season. The 'Swords are also 2-0 in the Pacific West Conference for the first time since the 2015-16 season when they began that season 3-0.
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) added nine points and dropped three dimes while freshmen posts
Kali Jones (Hyrum, Utah/Mountain Crest) and
Maddy Weaver (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup) pulled down seven rebounds each.
The victory also gave CUH two more points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge. Coupled with their victory over Hawai'i Hilo last Sunday, the 'Swords have four points in women's basketball, their most since the 2018-19 season.
Erika Glenn had 17 points for the Sharks (3-3, 1-1 PacWest), who trailed by as many as 19 in the third quarter before rallying and taking a one-point lead late in the final quarter.
With the exception of a 7-all tie early in the game, the 'Swords led the entire half, building a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter on a pair of Escobedo free throws. Their double-digit lead lasted the entire second quarter with their largest at 16 after Carter drilled a 3-pointer at the 6:33 mark. CUH led 42-30 at halftime.
Elmasri accounted for all seven of Chaminade's points coming out of halftime, giving the home team their biggest lead of the game at 49-30 with 7:50 left in the third.
But thanks to a trio of three-point plays, HPU rallied in the fourth quarter, taking its first lead of the game at 69-68 on Ella Berge's layup with 2:22 left. Then with 38 second remaining, Elmasri was hacked, sent to the line where she sank both free throws, putting the 'Swords back up, 70-69.
With the Silverswords up 71-69, Allison Ross' long inbounds pass from the midcourt line towards the basket was too high, giving possession back to Chaminade. Elmasri hit two free throws for the final margin.
Chaminade made 45.5 percent of its shots, was 6-of-21 from 3-point range and was 17-of-23 from the charity stripe. They hauled in 34 rebounds, had 16 assists to 12 turnovers.
HPU shot 40.3 percent but its second-half comeback was fueled by shooting 57.7 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Sharks were 14-of-19 at the free throw line and was 5-of-16 from long distance. They pulled down 36 rebounds and had nine assists with 13 giveaways.
The Silverswords will hit the mainland for the first time this season, starting a three-game road stand, which starts Tuesday at new PacWest member Menlo College. Tipoff is 3:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
