by HONOLULU – BYU-Hawaii women’s basketball ran out of gas in the second overtime as Chaminade took home a 93-82 victory.
Despite the slow start, Brygette Tatupu-Leopoldo finished with 33 points and added six steals and seven rebounds. Celeste Claw (Navajo Nation)scored 13 points to go with two steals and four assists.
The Silverswords (5-12, 5-8 PacWest) took control of the second overtime by scoring the first five points before Tatupu-Leopoldo hit two free-throws. Chaminade continued to be aggressive getting to the line and opening an 87-76 game with 1:36 remaining to close out BYU-Hawaii (12-8, 9-5 PacWest).
Chaminade jumped out to an early advantage by scoring the first six points of the game until a layup by Mata Tonga stopped the short run. The Silverswords used several small runs to build a 21-7 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Tatupu-Leopoldo and Celeste Claw quickly closed the gap to 13-21, but Chaminade was able to close the half strong on a 12-4 run to head into the break with a 32-18 lead.
The second half began with Chaminade building a 17-point lead at 43-26 in the first two minutes. The Seasiders then caught fire scoring 15 unanswered sparked by a jumper from Claw and highlighted by four steals by BYU-Hawaii to close the gap to two points with 13:46 remaining in the game.
The Seasiders finally pulled ahead for the first time on a layup by Tonga to make it a 57-56 with the clock showing 5:14 remaining. With just minutes remaining in the game, Chaminade stepped up the offensive pressure, but the Seasiders matched them almost point-for-point to remain in the lead.
With 40 seconds left the Silverswords tied the game up 63-63 and Claw’s jumper fell short to send the hard-fought game into overtime.
Tonga was the first to draw blood in overtime, but Chaminade responded with a layup of their own to once again tie the game. The Silverswords added four more points until back-to-back free-throw shots from Tatupu-Leopoldo stopped the 6-0 run.
With 10 seconds remaining, Claw fed Tonga the ball and she effortlessly laid it in to tie the game once more. The Silverswords’ final shot of the period fell short and the game headed to a second overtime, but the Seasiders were unable to continue its momentum in the extra time.
BYU-Hawaii will head to the mainland for another tough stretch of games beginning with Azusa Pacific on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. PST. Live stats will be available online.
