The Champion Christian College women's basketball team played in one final match before the 2022 year ended. Hosted by Hawaii Pacific University- Honolulu in a non-conference matchup Thursday afternoon in Hawaii. The resilience from HPU in each quarter boosted them to a 65-56 victory over CCC.

The Lady Tigers battled with NCAA DII HPU the day after long travels, time-change, and a week break to spend time with family. Although the Lady Tigers fell short, CCC will play against Chaminade University on January 2 of 2023. 

The start of the game was a bit sluggish for Champion but it was close for the first five minutes of the quarter. However, it was HPU that was favored in the final five. They outscored the Lady Tigers 9-4 to close out the first frame leading 17-10. 

Looking to respond, the Lady Tigers opened up quarter two with four straight points; but the Lady Sharks regained control, finishing the first half with a 14-6 run, highlighted by an 8-0 run to start the landslide. As the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the half, the Lady Tigers entered the locker room down by 11: 31-20. 

The fight was not over for the Lady Tigers. Going into the second half, CCC cut into the lead within seven points throughout the start of the third quarter. However, an 8-0 run saw the Lady Tigers close the gap to within 3 points, 39-36, with three and a half minutes to go.In the final minutes, HPU seemed to strive to maintain a lead: 49-40 by the end of the third. 

Both teams traded baskets throughout the fourth quarter, but the Lady Tigers could not get over the hump to get in the lead. Champion fought hard against NCAA DII HPU, outsourcing HPU in the 3rd quarter and tying 16 to 16 in the 4th quarter but it wasn’t enough by the final horn with a 65-56 loss to Hawaii Pacific University.

The leaders for the game were Tori Hayes with 18 points- going over 37% from the field, followed by Kamryn Gentry with a double-double 15 points,  21 rebounds and 4 blocks. Aaliyiah Clark added 14 points going over 43% from the field with 3 steals and 4 rebounds.