With a group of forwards leading the way for their respective teams, Hawai'i, Saint Mary's and Texas-Arlington face off in the Territorial Savings Bank Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It will be a good matchup for us against these two teams," Hawai'i coach Vince Goo said. "Their forwards seem to carry the brunt of the scoring, just like Jade (Abele) and April (Atuaia)."

Hawai'i plays Saint Mary's today at 5 p.m., and Texas-Arlington on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the round-robin tournament. Saint Mary's and Texas-Arlington play tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.

"Even when the two of them play each other on Monday, that will be a good match up," Goo said.

There also will be a Hawai'i alumnae game preceding the Hawai'i/ Saint Mary's game at 3 p.m.

Abele, who is 6 feet 1, averages 16 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and Atuaia, who is 5-10, adds 12.4 points per game.

Hawai'i's first opponent, Saint Mary's, is led by 6-2 junior Triola Jackson who was a first-team all-West Coast Conference selection last season. She averages 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

"She has good perimeter shooting, a good inside game, she's very athletic and good on the boards offensively," Goo said.

Although Jackson is listed as a forward, Abele said that the responsibility for marking her will go to post players Amber Lee, Callie Spooner and Brittany Grice.

"She likes to take the long shot and she crashes the boards and she's got really strong cuts," Abele said of Jackson.

Hawai'i and Saint Mary's are loaded with underclassmen.

"They have one senior and seven freshman, just like us, so it's going to be a good test for us to go up against a team as young as we are," Goo said. "We haven't had the opportunity so far."

Saint Mary's was picked to finish last out of eight teams in the West Coast Conference, but are 4-2 this year, including a 53-52 win over UCLA on Dec. 6.

"I know Saint Mary's is very similar to us, because they are very young. Their posts seem to be more outside shooters than any other team we've come across," Abele said.

Goo describes Ogunoya as being able to "score from all over. She can go in with the power game and can score from perimeter."

The Mavs are off to a 2-4 start, including a 74-71 loss to Southern Methodist on Nov. 28.

"They have very good scoring on the inside, they are very aggressive and very athletic," Goo said. "It will be a good test not just for the perimeter people but for the inside people as well."

Hawai'i has won the Invitational five out of its seven years, but is off to a 1-4 start this season.

The Rainbow Wahine, who had a two-week break from games, have been working on shooting and ball handling, and defensive rebounding.

They also worked on their conditioning.

"They had us running sprints like there was no tomorrow," Abele said. "I was like, 'What's going on, we're not soccer players.' "