FRESNO, Calif. – In their final Pacific West Conference mainland game of the year, the Chaminade University women's basketball team on Monday hung in with Fresno Pacific University for 30 minutes.
But the second quarter proved to be the difference as the Sunbirds outscored the Silverswords by 13 in their 78-56 win at the Special Events Center.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) had 14 points while
Amaya Washington (Peoria, Ariz./Dream City Christian) added 11 as Chaminade fell to 3-21 and 1-18 in the PacWest. Elmasri also had 11 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season.
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) added another nine points while
Dallas Martinez (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Whittier College/Sacred Hearts Academy) chipped in with seven points and five assists.
FPU's Breanna Hurt had 17 points for the PacWest's second-place team (18-6, 12-4 PacWest) which clinched a berth in the conference championship tournament in early March.
The 3-point shot was working early for Chaminade with Elmarsi hitting a pair and
Emma Morris (Tucson, Ariz./Tanque Verde) getting another to drop as the 'Swords trailed the heavily-favored Sunbirds, 18-15, at the end of the first.
However, the second quarter was the 'Swords' undoing as FPU outscored them, 29-16, using runs of 10-2 and 8-0 in the stanza.
Chaminade scored eight of the first nine points of the second half on two Elmasri free throws, a Martinez layup and two field goals by
Ashley Holen (Watford City, N.D./Minot State University/Watford City HS), cutting the deficit to 48-39. FPU then scored nine straight to get its lead back to the high teens for the remainder of the game.
The 'Swords shot 37.7 percent from the floor and held Fresno Pacific to 36.9 including 31.3 in the second half. Chaminade made six 3-pointers and was 10-of-17 from the foul line. But they were out-rebounded, 46-to-34 and the Sunbirds were 22-of-31 from the charity stripe.
The Silverswords will head to the Bay Area for a non-conference meeting with Lincoln University on Wednesday at Laney College in Oakland. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
