Though the Silverswords women ended the season on the short end, there was still a lot to commemorate.
In the last game of the season, Chaminade University of Honolulu’s women’s basketball team lost to Hawaii Pacific University on Saturday, 52-37, at the McCabe Gym in Honolulu.
“Didn’t go out the way we wanted, but it was fun,” said Chaminade senior guard Kristle Henry in a phone interview Tuesday. “I was happy, honestly.”
“It was kind of an ‘it is what it is’ mindset. But at the end of the game as time was winding down, it did hit me a little like, ‘Man, we just lost.’ It was a bummer, but it was more of an emotional standpoint because it’s the last few seconds of the game and the last time I’m going to be on the court. I’d say being on the court with my teammates was probably a lot more emotional than the fact that we lost.”
The Silverswords ended their 2016-17 campaign with a 3-21 overall record with a 3-17 record in the Pacific West Conference.
Henry, a Kauai High School alumna, had six points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in that game.
Her two steals made her the Chaminade’s all-time career steals record holder with 168.
“The first one, I actually wasn’t sure I got that steal,” Henry said. “It was kind of a fumble. The ball was loose, and I just came up with it. So, I wasn’t sure I got that. But once I got the second one, that made me pretty happy.”
She added after that steal, she went for a fast break layup and wanted to draw a foul but didn’t get the call.
“I was hoping to get a foul and an and-one or something, but it’s OK,” she said.
Among her other statistical records for Chaminade following Saturday’s game are:
w Most single-season steals (57, set in 2014-15)
w Tied most single-game steals (6)
w Third all-time in career scoring (908)
w Second all-time in career rebounds (377)
w Second all-time in career assists (248)
In the last game of the season, Henry along with six others — guards Chantal Yadao, Taylor Babbitt and Brooke Rickard, and forwards Courtney Kaupu, Lilia Maio and Carissa Webb — celebrated their senior night.
Several members of Henry’s family were in attendance for the final home game.
“There isn’t really words I can say to really describe it,” she said. “It meant everything in the world to have them there with me in the gym watching.”
This year’s Silverswords senior class is the winningest in the program’s history with 18 over the last four years. In the four years prior, the school won just four.
Despite the importance of the game and that it was the last of the season, Henry said the post-game happenings were pretty typical.
“After the game when our coach talked to us, he just gave us the after-the-game spiel about what we did good and what we did bad,” she said. “Nothing too different from any other game, actually. The seniors, we were pretty happy that we finished our four years of college ball, but there weren’t really words exchanged other than just the emotion of senior night.”
Henry is set to graduate from Chaminade in May with a degree in psychology and hopes to work as a personal trainer afterward.
“I’ll keep going to school and keep working at my job, and see where life takes me,” she said. “I’m open and optimistic to all different challenges and all different opportunities.”
