Injuries end seasons for Lee and Kane

The college careers of two women's basketball players from Hawaii came to a painful end last Saturday.

Menlo College senior Kepua Lee (Moanalua '04) and Gonzaga senior Rachel Kane (Punahou '03) both suffered season-ending knee injuries in their final year of eligibility.

Kane, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in high school and twice in college, suffered the same injury to her left knee in the first half against Portland. Her 285 career assists are sixth most in school history. She started 22 games last season and helped lead the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament appearance.

Lee, who had never experienced a major injury, tore her ACL 2 minutes into the second half of a game against Cal State East Bay.

"I kind of knew it was bad, but I was hoping it was just a bad sprain," she said. "I'm a little hard-headed and tried to run (after the injury occurred). I had about four steps and on the fifth step my knee gave and I fell to the ground."

Lee had 16 points and five rebounds when she went down.

Kelci Fushikoshi (Lahainaluna '05) added 12 points and three rebounds, while Pioneers senior Breanna Carson (Kalaheo '04) finished with three 3-pointers and a team-high 12 points.

Lee was leading the team in points (20.9), rebounds (8.8), assists (2.3) and blocks and had 28 career double-doubles.

She had an MRI on Monday to confirm the tear and will have surgery when the swelling goes down. Her doctors said it would be about a six-month recovery, but she hopes to be fully healthy sooner than that.

"I'm going to try to cut it down to a four-month recovery," Lee said. "It's a little too much to ask, but I'm going to definitely try."

» Chelsie Kadota (Roosevelt '05) scored 16 points and Larisa Nakasone (Roosevelt '05) added six points and six rebounds as Holy Names defeated Bethany 82-62. C'ani Kealoha (Farrington '07) chipped in with six points off the bench for the Hawks.

Men's Basketball

» Colorado School of Mines junior guard Kyle Pape (Iolani '05) scored a career-high 37 points on 15-for-22 shooting in a 78-75 loss to Nebraska-Kearney. Pape has reached the 30-point plateau in two of his last four games and has scored in double figures in 19 of 21 games this season.

» Washington State senior Derrick Low (Iolani '04) scored 18 points on six 3-pointers in a 56-55 win over Arizona State. Low was recently named as one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden award, which is handed out to the nation's top player.

» Linfield sophomore Cody Tesoro (Baldwin '05) scored nine points in 8 minutes of an 83-77 win over Lewis and Clark. He had 10 points in 12 minutes a night earlier in a win over Pacific Lutheran.

Women's Volleyball

» Fairfield senior Lindsey Lee (St. Joseph '04) was one of 16 collegiate athletes who earned the Academic Momentum Award presented by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports. Lee, who is majoring in psychology, was honored for her academic improvement and motivation to achieve academic excellence.

Men's Swimming & Diving

» California senior Mark Eckert (Iolani '04) won the 200 backstroke with a season-best time of 1 minute, 45 seconds in a dual-meet victory over Arizona State.

» N.C. State junior Andrew Lester (Moanalua '05) finished first in the 200 freestyle and second in the 100 free and 400 IM in a dual meet win over Maryland.

Women's Swimming & Diving

» Loyola Marymount sophomore Mallorie Lim (Iolani '06) was part of the 200 medley relay team that finished first, and came in third in the 100 butterfly and fourth in the 100 breaststroke to help the Lions cap a perfect dual-meet season with a win over San Diego. Freshman Aja Kusao (Iolani '07) placed seventh in the 50 free.

Men's Volleyball

» Princeton junior Ka'ohu Berg-Hee (Punahou '05) had 11 digs as the Waves opened the season with a loss to UC San Diego.

» Stanford sophomore setter Kawika Shoji (Iolani '06) had 51 assists and three kills, and freshman libero Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha '07) had five digs in a sweep over UC Santa Barbara.