HONOLULU – If there's any team that can't wait for the 2026-27 season to start, it's the Chaminade University women's basketball team.
After a rough '25-26, 10 additions and a month of hard practices, the Silverswords will lace up the sneakers and face unfamiliar faces when they open the campaign at the Hoops in Hawai'i Tip-Off Classic, one of Division II's early exempted tournaments, Friday against St. Mary's of Texas.
Although the eight-team tournament will be on campus, the site will be an unfamiliar venue at Saint Louis School's Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center, right door to their home court of McCabe Gymnasium.
The Classic is a true championship/consolation format with winners advancing to the championship round and losers to the consolation bracket. The 'Swords will face either Alaska Anchorage or Colorado Mesa on Saturday either at 4:45 p.m. with a win or 12:15 p.m. with a loss. The tournament concludes Sunday.
Even with the influx of newcomers, second-year head coach
Travis Brewster has ample returnees with three of their top four scorers coming back. Two key starters are back in
Alyssa Schuetze (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak), Chaminade's top scorer at 13.4 points per game, and
Holly Dolny (Melbourne, Australia/Loyola University Chicago/Heathdale Christian College), their No. 2 scorer with 25 made 3-pointers.
Julien Parado (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell), the team's assist leader with 72 and fourth-leading scorer, is also back.
Kylie Squier (Branchville, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) and
Maddy Weaver (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup) had 28 starts between them a year ago with the other returnees are
Finley Gonzales (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak) and
Addison Sirianni (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman).
Among the 'Swords' rookies, five of them have prior collegiate experience including
Aariah Fox (Murphys, Calif./Santa Barbara City College/Bret Harte HS),
Ella Kletti (Delwood, Minn./Florida Southern University/Mahtomedi HS),
Jordyn Luna (Kahului, Maui, Hawai'i/Western Wyoming College/Maui HS),
Hannah Morgan (Machesney Park, Ill./Rock Valley College/Rockford Lutheran HS) and
Ledjan Pahukoa (Haiku, Maui, Hawai'i/Cal State Monterey Bay/Lahainaluna HS).
Pahukoa, a Maui native, has the most experience with 69 career games in her three years at fellow Division II member Cal State Monterey Bay, while Fox made 48 starts at Santa Barbara City College.
The freshmen include
Mia Baskerville (Las Vegas/Desert Oasis),
Sienna Lamblack (Honolulu/Hawai'i Baptist Academy),
Cayden Parado (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Campbell) and
Ella Prelog (Bend, Ore./Trinity Lutheran).
Following the Tip-Off Classic, the Silverswords host the PacWest/GNAC Challenge with Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Nov. 13, and Alaska the following afternoon, both games at McCabe Gym. Other non-conference matchups include Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 18, a Nov. 23 date against former Pacific West Conference power Azusa Pacific (which moved to Division III this season), and December contests in the Hoops in Hawai'i Christmas Classic against Jamestown and Texas Tyler at the Hawai'i Pacific University's Shark Tank.
The PacWest schedule begins Dec. 3 against Vanguard at home then Biola on Dec. 5.
The PacWest Championship tournament will be from March 4-6 at Biola University with the top six teams qualifying.
