Natasja Allen, Michelle Gabriel, Christen Roper and Julia Washington will wear their Rainbow Wahine home uniforms tonight for the last time at the Stan Sheriff Center. Wahine seniors
will say goodbyeBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
Allen, Gabriel and Roper are seniors who complete their eligibility this year. Washington is a junior eligibility-wise, but will graduate in May with a degree in communications.
When: Today, 7 p.m. Rice at Hawaii
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio: None
Tickets: All seats general admission. $7 adults, $6 seniors, $4 for children (age 4-17) and UH students.
Parking: $3
The evening is one of mixed emotions. The focus must be on basketball and beating Rice first, with the "last-game thoughts" held in abeyance until the postgame ceremonies.
"I've thought about it a little bit when I'm walking to practice in the morning," Gabriel said. "My gosh, this is the countdown, the countdown to not waking up early. I don't think it being my last home game will hit me until that day. I can't believe it's over."
Allen's family is in town and she is trying to get caught up with her homework.
"I'm just too distracted to think about it right now," said Allen, who, along with Gabriel and Roper, has experienced senior night three times as an underclassman.
"I know tonight will be sad and really exciting at the same time," Roper said. "A lot of my family will be there and my team will be there.
"I don't see any difficulty focusing on the game. It is senior night no matter what. The ceremony after is great, but the game with Rice has to be done first."
Allen has played in 95 games and made 55 consecutive starts at power forward. Roper is just as durable, seeing action in 94 games with 60 consecutive starts going back to her sophomore season.
Gabriel was a walk-on her freshman year and showed enough progress that Hawaii coach Vince Goo awarded her a scholarship starting with her sophomore season. A backup at point guard for three seasons, the Kailua resident won the starting job this year. She has played in 94 games during her career.
For all of them, it has been four years of maturing as individuals out on their own away from home.
"I think the biggest thing was learning about responsibilities and priorities. You can't do everything you want sometimes, you have to do what matters," said Gabriel. "You get to understand why Vince pushes you so hard. It helps grow up. You mature fast."
Allen, from Port Orchard, Wash., and headed to a career in the U.S. Army after graduation next May, said, "I think I got a lot of discipline and learned how to organize my time. Being a student athlete, you have to get to practice on time and get your homework done. It forces you to have accountability. If you do something wrong, it's 'Into my office. I want to have a word with you.' "
Allen's highlight is in the future with a backup in the past.
"I want us to win the WAC and go to the NCAA tournament. If not that, then the WNIT run my sophomore with all the people in the arena would be my highlight," said Allen.
Roper also believes she is a stronger, more independent person, the result of being on her own 2,500 miles from her family in Ojai, Calif.
"I would never get the same experience anywhere else," said Roper, a history major with a minor in Spanish. "Just making the relationships that I've made with teammates I had and have, the coaches, that's a big thing."
She will graduate in December and plans to enter graduate school on the mainland to work on a master's in history or education with teaching the occupational goal.
Washington plans to move to Austin, Texas, where she has friends, and will pursue job opportunities there.
"I had planned on playing a little more, but basically I had a lot of fun," said Washington, who was hampered by injuries her first two seasons and has been on the court just five times for the Rainbow Wahine.
"You meet people from all over here and you realize how small the world is. Even though basketball didn't work out the way I expected, I'm blessed to have learned a lot about myself, to be patient and persevere."
Washington will be the first college graduate in her family and thinks she has set the standard for the rest of her family.
Gabriel summed everything up for her teammates.
"There were times I never thought conditioning was going to end. I thought my legs would fall off my body. Now, I can't believe how fast four years went by," she said.
HAWAII (13-11, 7-8 WAC) Probable starters
Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G M.Gabriel (Sr.) 5-6 5.7 2.5 3.1 G A.Atuaia (Jr.) 5-10 10.2 4.4 2.0 F N.Allen (Sr.) 6-2 9.8 6.0 1.0 F J.Abele (So.) 5-11 10.2 4.0 4.2 C C.Roper (Sr.) 6-5 10.0 7.6 0.8 RICE (12-12, 9-6 WAC)
Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G K.Lawson (Sr.) 5-7 8.1 3.0 4.7 F L.Maynard (Jr.) 5-10 8.2 3.5 1.7 F E.Inman (Jr.) 6-2 8.5 4.8 1.2 F A.Cunningham (Fr.) 5-10 2.9 2.7 0.6 C J.Hayes (Jr.) 6-4 13.1 8.3 0.3
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