Morgan Escobedo's (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) driving layup as time expired gave the Chaminade University women's basketball team a thrilling 64-63 win Thursday over Westmont College at McCabe Gymnasium.
The sophomore point guard's heroics capped her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while adding seven steals and three assists to help the Silverswords rally from a six-point deficit with 3:43 remaining.
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS) led the Silverswords with 16 points while
Kali Jones (Hyrum, Utah/Mountain Crest) tacked on 13 points and nine boards.
Julien Parado (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) and
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) added 10 points each with the former dishing out four assists.
Escobedo accounted for the Silverswords' first game-winning buzzer-beater since Destiny Castro's 33-foot desperation heave to beat Minot State, 79-77, on Nov. 21, 2018 at what is now the HPU Shark Tank. It is also the first time since Dec. 12, 2009 when Kelly Costello drilled a corner 3-pointer at the horn to beat BYU-Hawai'i, 53-52, that the 'Swords celebrated a walk-off win at McCabe Gym.
Chaminade, which opened a four-game home stand in their first game of 2025, improved to 4-8 overall while evening their Pacific West Conference record to 3-3.
Sage Kramer had 28 points for the Warriors who fell to 5-6 and 2-3 in the PacWest.
The 'Swords opened up as many as a 12-point lead in the first quarter, holding Westmont to just five points eight-and-a-half minutes into the game before Kramer hit back-to-back triples to get them back in the fold.
Westmont grabbed its first lead since 2-0 on a jumper with 7:25 left in the third quarter. After a layup from Schuetze gave CUH a 38-33 edge, the Warriors ended the period on a 17-7 run to establish a 50-45 lead.
Westmont's lead grew to 60-54 with 3:43 remaining before a 3-pointer by
Dezaray Carter (Honolulu/Sacred Hearts Academy) and a layup by Parado were part of a 7-0 run to tilt the lead back to Chaminade's favor, 61-60, with 40 seconds left. The Warriors hit one of two free throws to put them back in front by a point which set up the game's dramatic finish.
Escobedo received a sideline inbounds pass then drove the left baseline and hit her game-winner over a pair of Warrior defenders as the horn sounded.
The Silverswords shot 42.3 percent from the field, hit a season-high seven 3-pointers – three from Elmasri – and were 13-of-20 from the charity stripe. They outrebounded the Warriors, 37-to-32, had 16 assists and 13 steals. They also outscored Westmont, 13-0, in second-chance points.
The Warriors shot 42.1 percent, were 4-of-14 from long range and 11-of-17 at the free throw line while committing 22 turnovers.
The Silverswords will face PacWest newcomer Vanguard University on Saturday. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
