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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 5:55 p.m., Tuesday, January 29, 2002

Injured Atuaia likely out for season

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

In a week when the University of Hawai'i Wahine received recognition in both major polls for the first time, they lost one of the players most responsible for their rise.

April Atuaia, last season's WAC Freshman of the Year, learned today that she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Atuaia went down three minutes into Saturday's game after planting her left leg on a drive.

A magnetic resonance imaging yesterday showed a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and problems with the meniscus, a cartilage disk that cushions the area where bones meet in a joint.

Coach Vince Goo said Atuaia will probably not play again this season, but she is listed as "out indefinitely." She will undergo rehabilitation the next two weeks and be re-evaluated after the team returns from its four-game trip.

The 5-foot-10 guard is second on the team in assists, steals and rebounds (more than seven a game) and has been averaging eight points. Atuaia, an all-state player as a senior at Kahuku High, has been a starter since the sixth game of her collegiate career.

Her loss leaves a huge hole in the Wahine lineup and takes a big bite out of the depth that has helped them to a 13-4 record. They open their WAC trip Saturday at San Jose State, which can move ahead of UH into third place with a victory.

"We'll have to have some people step in," Goo said. "Chelsea (Wagner) and Christa (Brossman) at the wing, and we'll probably move Jade (Abele) over to play some wing. We had depth as far as people coming in to play, but we really get thin with the loss of April."