HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team will make their home debut this Sunday when they face Northwest Indian College in their final exhibition game before the start of the regular season. Tipoff at McCabe Gymnasium is at 5 p.m.
With the departures of their top three scorers from a season ago, more of a team approach will be utilized to get points on the board this year.
Although the roster is 10 players strong, first-year head coach
Travis Brewster is hoping that a multitude of players will be leading scorers each game. That was evident in the Silverswords' season-opening exhibition at Division I Hawai'i back on Oct. 21 with four players getting six or more points each.
Guard
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) is the Silverswords' top returning scorer at a 6.1 average while
Julien Parado (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) is next at 5.7. Parado was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and a team-leading eight points against the Rainbow Wahine with Schuetze adding seven more.
Dezaray Carter (Honolulu/Sacred Hearts Academy) returns as well as
Selena Buttery (Brockway, Pa./Brockway), both seniors entering their final year of eligibility. Both had solid rebounding games in the UH exhibition with six and four boards, respectively, while
Ashley Holen (Watford City, N.D./Minot State University/Watford City HS) rounds out the three-member senior class.
Kylie Squier (Branchville, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional), who logged just over five minutes per game last year, could see increased minutes especially after her solid performance in the Hawai'i exhibition where she buried a pair of 3-pointers.
Maddy Weaver (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup), who made 10 starts in the post, will look to give the 'Swords a post presence inside the lane.
Libby Hein (Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison) adds depth to the guard-laden squad.
Chaminade also has two newcomers in transfer
Holly Dolny (Melbourne, Australia/Loyola University Chicago/Heathdale Christian College) and freshman
Addison Sirianni (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman). Dolny, who comes to Chaminade from Division I Loyola Chicago, showed a deep shot ability, hitting a pair of triples in the UH exhibition. Sirianni was an all-conference performer at Lake Norman High School in North Carolina and is the program's all-time assists leader.
The 'Swords begin the regular season on Friday in the PacWest/GNAC Challenge against Saint Martin's at the Hawai'i Pacific University Shark Tank then the tournament moves to McCabe Gym with CUH facing traditional West Region power Alaska Anchorage.
The Silverswords will have two more home games – Nov. 22 against UC Merced and Nov. 29 against Cal State East Bay – before their Pacific West Conference opener at HPU on Tuesday, Dec. 2. It is the start of five straight conference games on the road, which includes a Dec. 6 date at the University of Hawai'i Hilo then three in the PacWest's Southern California region prior to the Christmas break.
The 'Swords return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 13 against Vanguard, the start of a five-game home stand before embarking back on the road to the second half of the SoCal road swing for three games. The team returns home for their final stretch of home games, six straight, starting with a rematch against HPU on Feb.7 at home and ending on Feb. 19 with Aloha Senior Night against UH Hilo. The team wraps up the regular season with three games in Northern California.
The PacWest Championships will be from March 3-5 in San Diego.
