by LAIE, Hawaii – Whitney Fieldsted led BYU-Hawaii Women’s basketball to its third-consecutive victory in a 68-61 game against Notre Dame De Namur on Saturday at the Cannon Activities Center.
“We’re doing well but we have a long way to go and several very good teams to face on the mainland, but I’m pleased with our girl’s effort,” BYU-Hawaii head coach Craig Stanger said. “We’re playing focused and together right now. We had another good game with a lot of assists for the number of baskets made. As long as we do that, I feel like we have an opportunity to be competitive.”
Fieldsted led all players with 18 points and added nine rebounds and five assists. Celeste Claw (Navajo Nation) followed with 15 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. Marquessa Gilson finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
The Seasiders (8-5, 5-2 PacWest) shot 47.4 percent from the field, while holding Notre Dame De Namur (2-13, 0-8 PacWest) to a 36.9 percent night from the floor. BYU-Hawaii also finished 75 percent from the free-throw line.
The Seasiders used an early 6-0 run to build an 11-5 lead five minutes into the first half. The Argonauts answered quickly getting back within one of BYU-Hawaii after scoring five unanswered to make it 11-10 with 14:34 remaining in the first half.
The Seasiders went on another 6-0 run with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half to build a nine-point lead at 24- 15. A jump shot made by Fieldsted gave the Seasiders their first double-digit lead of the game at 32-21 with only 4:20 remaining in the first half.
The Argonauts didn’t go away scoring the final five points of the half to go into the break down 32-26. Fieldsted went on an individual 6-0 run to get the lead back to double digits at 41-31 with 15:47 remaining in the game.
The teams traded baskets until Argonauts caught up to the Seasiders with three consecutive 3-pointers to tie the game at 49-49 with only 7:25 minutes remaining.
A jump shot by Mata Tonga broke the tie and began a 6-2 run to give the Seasiders a 61-55 lead with only 3:12 on the clock. The Argonauts closed within two with 1:32 remaining, but the Seasiders closed them out from the free-throw line.
The Seasiders travel to northern California next week to take on Holy Names on Saturday at 2 p.m. PDT at Tobin Gymnasium. Live stats will be available online.
