by HONOLULU, Hawaii – Celeste Claw (Navajo) led the charge with 13 points to give BYU-Hawaii women’s basketball the 70-57 victory over Chaminade on Saturday night game at McCabe Gymnasium.
Claw added 6 assists, 5 rebounds and three steals for the Seasiders (11-12, 8-10 PacWest). Natallia Cravens recorded 12 points, while Valerie Nawahine chipped in 11 points.
BYU-Hawaii held Chaminade (5-17, 5-13 PacWest) to 34.5 percent from the field. The Seasider bench also made a difference outscoring the Chaminade subs 30-21.
The Seasiders and the Silverswords began the game by trading points, with Chaminade holding a slim 7-6 lead at the media timeout. Kjirsten Nelson and Mata Tonga scored the final five points of the quarter for BYU-Hawaii to keep the game close at 13-11 in favor of the Silverswords heading into second quarter.
Chaminade’s Sabrina Angle scored the first basket of the second and sparked a 9-0 Chaminade run that was stopped at 6:35 by a jumper from Kauhi to take a 22-13 lead.
Emily Nelson ignited an 8-0 run late in the quarter to tie the game at 27 with three minutes remaining. BYU-Hawaii briefly regained the lead until Chaminade hit the last shot of the half to take the 30-29 lead going into the break.
Claw, Jiashan Cui and Nawahine helped BYU-Hawaii regain the lead early in the third quarter, but the Silverswords drew back to a 35-35 tie with a free throw from Courtney Kaupu four minutes into the third.
The Silverswords were able to keep the game close, but Nawahine scored five points during an 8-1 run to take a 44-40 lead. The Seasiders added a seven-unanswered to end the quarter with a 51-42 lead.
The Seasider run continued into the fourth quarter with eight-consecutive points to take the 59-42 lead. Natallia Cravens led the 15-0 run with seven points. BYU-Hawaii was able to answer Chaminade almost point by point and managed to increase their lead to 69-50 with 2:07 left on another Cravens’ layup.
BYU-Hawaii will play its final home game on Tuesday against Azusa Pacific at 5 p.m. HST. Lives stats and video will be available online.
