HONOLULU, Hawaii. -- The final game on island time for Vanguard women's basketball witnessed the Lions down the hosting Silverswords of Chaminade 67-59. The Blue and Gold outscored Chaminade in all but one frame and four players reached double figures in the win. VU improves to 7-5 overall and 5-1 in Pacific West Conference play, while Chaminade falls to 4-9 overall, 3-4 in the league.
Turnovers were the story after the Hawaii Pacific game and tonight, the Vanguard lineup created more turnovers than it committed, ending the contest with a 10-4 edge in steals. The defense handed down seven blocks and
Emma Schaaf provided five of them to set a season-best. The team trailed for much of the third quarter but did not trail at all in the fourth period.
What Happened? Schaaf opened the scoring on the first VU possession courtesy of a pass from
Halle Si'i, but the Silverswords netted four unanswered points after that. Vanguard responded with a driving layup by
Sarah Matossian and a triple from
Aryanna Hudson to re-establish a lead at 7-6 with 6:09 to go in the quarter. The two squads exchanged baskets until the home side put up five unanswered points to take a 17-12 lead with just under two minutes left in the frame. However, Matossian had the rebuttal, as she made a layup while getting fouled, making the and-one free throw to bring the gap down to two points. After a couple of misses by the Silverswords, Matossian found another seam and banked in a layup with 23 seconds left to tie the score at 17-17 at the end of 10 minutes.
The defenses were the stars in the second quarter, though miscues plagued both sides, as the teams combined for 17 total points after scoring 17 apiece. Si'i deposited the only three of the quarter but made free throws by Chaminade just before the horn cut the VU lead to 26-25 at halftime.
Chaminade scored 17 points in the third and fourth quarters, but VU tallied 19 and 22 points respectively to net a win far away from home, though it needed some time to develop.
Schaaf and Si'i made shots to keep things tied at 30-all within the first two minutes of the third, but the offense then went cold. The Silverswords registered six-straight points to lead 36-30 with 5:45 remaining, but a layup from Si'i got the Blue and Gold back on the scoreboard.
Nyla Cabine then buried a triple at the 5:10 mark and two free throws from Si'i about two minutes later restored Vanguard to a 39-38 lead to cap a 9-2 spell. The final minute of the frame was decisive for VU, as Hudson found Schaaf for an open three before Hudson dropped in a layup to put the Lions up 45-42 to end the third.
The Silverswords would not tie or take the lead again, as Vanguard scooted the score out of range over the first five minutes of the final frame. The Lions opened the fourth on an 11-5 stretch and the lead reached its zenith at 65-53 with 1:24 to go on a pair of free throws made by Schaaf. Chaminade outscored VU 6-2 over the final minute, but that did not threaten the Vanguard lead, as the Lions took the victory 67-59.
Vanguard shot 44% from the floor in the game and went 6-for-13 for a 31.6% rate from downtown. Chaminade shot 43.6% from the field and 27.8% from beyond the arc. Chaminade won the rebound battle 33-31 but the Lions out-chanced the Silverswords from the charity stripe 24-13 and VU made 17 of their attempts on the night for a 70.7% rate. Si'i led all players with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor and she made five of her seven free throws. Matossian and Schaaf contributed 11 points each and Hudson added 10 points, including a team-high two splashdowns from three-point land. Matossian tied for a game-high eight rebounds and Schaaf added seven
Why is it Important? The win keeps the Lions in the mix at the top of the table, which is led by the 6-0 squads of APU and PLNU. VU is three games ahead of HPU in third.
What was Said? "I'm proud how this team bounced back after a tough loss," said Head Coach
Russ Davis. "Halle stepped up, we had four players in double figures to achieve some balance, and Nyla was huge off the bench. So were Emma's five blocks. We had a great fourth quarter and I'm proud of them."
What's Next? The Lions make the long flight back to California and play again in five days at CUI on January 9 at 5:30 p.m. as the team goes from the longest road trip of the season to the shortest.
