[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pam Tambini is leading the Wahine in rebounding and getting 25 minutes a game.
Tambini’s time is here
The Hawaii freshman guard starts
despite preseason travails
The way things began this fall for freshman Pam Tambini, she had to wonder if she'd be healthy enough to play for the Hawaii women's basketball team -- at all.
But after five games the 5-foot-10 guard has started every game.
Tambini sprained her right ankle in a September pickup game, then got sick and had to spend a couple of nights in a hospital.
What: Territorial Savings Bank InvitationalWhen: Today, Hawaii vs. Saint Mary's, 5 p.m.; Tomorrow, Saint Mary's vs. Texas-Arlington, 3 p.m.; Tuesday, Hawaii vs. Texas-Arlington, 7 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: UH games live, KFVE
Radio: Both UH games live, KKEA, 1420-AM
Tickets: All seats general admission. $7 adults, $6 seniors. UH students with valid ID and children age 4-18 free. Tomorrow's Saint Mary's vs. Texas-Arlington game is free.
Parking: $3
"I got really sick, was dehydrated, couldn't keep any food down and lost 15 pounds," said Tambini, who is from San Jose, Calif. "My mom finally flew in for a couple of days to take care of me."
She also learned the meaning of "ohana."
"My teammates were really, really nice. I was so out of it. They brought me presents and flowers at the hospital. It reminded me of something my friends back home would do," Tambini said.
Despite rolling that right ankle two more times and overcoming a bout of homesickness, Tambini was ready when coach Vince Goo put her in the starting five for the preseason exhibition game against the Chinese National Women's Team. It was a complete surprise to her.
"I had no idea that I was going to start. I thought he would play the veterans. I really didn't know where I stood at that time," said Tambini, who is joined in the starting lineup by another freshman, center Brittany Grice.
Tambini took the starting assignment in stride, knowing that if she worried it would just cause problems. She already had experienced enough ups and downs during her first two months on the Manoa campus.
"Once we got into the groove of school and basketball, you are so busy you don't have time to think about being away from home," Tambini said.
Goo decided to start Tambini for several reasons.
"Pam does a lot of small things that really go unnoticed. She sets good screens, makes good passes and has court awareness of where the other players are," Goo said.
"She defends the ball well and defends well off the ball with good anticipation. She seems to be in the right place at the right time. That comes from anticipation."
Through those early trials, Tambini could count on the lessons she learned while earning a black belt in tae kwon do, which she started learning in the first grade and continued for nine years.
"This little boy at school at show-and-tell was a red belt. I thought that was cool and said I wanted to do that so my mom signed me up. I always wanted to be better than anyone else," Tambini said.
"My teacher always said discipline and self respect were important, not only in the studio, but outside and that's what I have now," Tambini said. "If I make a mistake, I just move on, do something to make up for that mistake."
She averages 25 minutes per game, with 5.8 points. Tambini is perfect on six free throw attempts and leads Hawaii in rebounding with 30.
"Pam needs to improve on some individual skills," Goo said. "She is willing to learn, very receptive to coaches' suggestions and corrections and willing to get better and that is the key to it all."
The three-time league MVP while at Piedmont High School was also recruited by California, Cal State Fullerton, Pacific, Santa Clara and New Mexico. But Tambini took just one official visit -- to Hawaii.
"I knew the schools in my area. The UH coaches started sending me stuff before my senior year. I just thought about coming here, doing what I like to do -- play basketball -- and doing it in paradise," said Tambini, who had participated in a basketball tournament on the Big Island as an eighth-grader.
"The coaches offered me a scholarship before I made the trip here, but I did want to see the campus even though I knew I wanted to play for Hawaii."
Tambini visited in November 2002 and was hosted by Jade Abele and Christen Roper. Tambini signed early. That took the pressure off during her senior year in high school, allowing her to focus on what she had to do.
Tambini plans to major in chemistry and her career goal is to be a pediatrician.
"I always set high goals for myself. It was either be a lawyer or a pediatrician and I chose pediatrician because I love little kids," Tambini said.
Gameday
Probable starting lineups
Hawaii (1-4)
Saint Mary's (4-2)
Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Milia Macfarlane (Jr.) 5-5 6.2 2.4 2.2 F April Atuaia (Jr.) 5-10 12.4 5.0 2.2 F Pam Tambini (Fr.) 5-10 5.8 6.0 0.6 F Jade Abele (Jr.) 6-1 16.0 5.2 2.8 C Brittany Grice (Fr.) 6-4 4.4 4.0 0.0
Notes: The Gaels lead the series, 3-2. The last time the teams played, St. Mary's eliminated visiting Hawaii 75-60 in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, March 16, 2000. ... The Wahine have never played the Texas-Arlington Mavericks, who sport a 2-4 record. ... The Wahine alumnae game is today at 3 p.m. ... Territorial Savings Bank will award a $200 Ala Moana Gift Certificate at halftime of each UH game. ... 100 mini basketballs will be thrown to fans during each UH game.
Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Lauren Shaughnessy (Fr.) 5-4 4.0 5.0 3.7 G Serena Benavente (Fr.) 5-6 7.8 2.7 2.7 G Savannah Williams (Jr.) 5-10 3.8 3.5 0.9 F Triola Jackson (Jr.) 6-2 10.7 6.3 1.0 F Monica Mertle (Fr.) 6-0 7.3 2.7 0.6
