HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's basketball team on Thursday fell to crosstown rival Hawai'i Pacific University, 74-62, in their final regular season game at the HPU Shark Tank.
Dezaray Carter (Honolulu/Sacred Hearts Academy) had a team-high 13 points for the Silverswords, who ended their season at 6-20 overall, one win shy of the program record, and 5-15 in the Pacific West Conference. The loss resulted in a split of the season series for a second straight year.
Morgan Escobedo (Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle) added 11 points, six rebounds and four steals while
Kali Jones (Hyrum, Utah/Mountain Crest) tacked on 11 points with 14 rebounds and
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) had 10 points.
Battling through an injury for a better part of a month, Chaminade's lone senior,
Sameera Elmasri (Shawnee, Kan./Birmingham-Southern Univ./Saint Thomas Aquinas HS), had four points and five rebounds in her final game. Her only field goal of the game was a 3-pointer with seven seconds left.
Morgan Hawkins had a game-high 15 points for the Sharks, who improved to 10-15 overall and 6-14 in the PacWest. HPU plays at the University of Hawai'i on Saturday where a win would give them the first-place points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge. Chaminade and HPU have four points each while UH Hilo has two.
Not having played since Feb. 13 at Hawai'I Hilo, the rust was evident for the 'Swords whose first field goal came at just past the midway point of the first quarter on a layup from
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak). Their next made basket was from
Amaya Washington (Peoria, Ariz./Dream City Christian), a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left in the period, to which Chaminade trailed 23-8.
Their struggles from the field continued in the second quarter, making just five shots, although their defense also limited HPU to just five as well. However, the Sharks held a 40-18 halftime lead.
The Silverswords finally got into a rhythm, using a 17-6 run to cut a 23-point deficit to 51-39 late in the third quarter, led by Carter's six points during the rally.
But Chaminade could not get any closer as HPU pulled away in the final quarter.
The Silversowrds shot 36.7 percent from the floor with three triples and was 15-of-24 from the foul line. They managed to out-rebound the Sharks, 45-to-35, with seven assists and 18 turnovers.
The Sharks made 41.7 percent of their shots, hit eight 3-pointers and was 16-of-25 at the charity stripe. They had 10 assists and 14 giveaways.
Elmasri ended with 1,045 career points, which included her first collegiate season at Birmingham Southern College. Her 723 points at Chaminade ranks fifth in the program's scoring list while her 413 points this season is also the fifth-highest in team history.
Jones finished her first collegiate season with 210 total rebounds, the third-highest in program history while her 8.1 boards per game is fifth most.
