Rainbow Wahine's Lee posting big numbers

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

UH coaches say Amber Lee is a good shooter, but for now she's working hard in the post, grabbing 19 rebounds in the first two games. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic WHO: Hawai'i, No. 2 Texas, No. 21 Arizona, Navy, Virginia, Hartford, Syracuse, Montana. SCHEDULE: Tomorrow: Texas vs. Navy, 12:30 p.m.; Virginia vs. Arizona, 2:40 p.m.; Hawai'i vs. Hartford, 4:50 p.m.; Syracuse vs. Montana, 7 p.m. Saturday: Hawai'i vs. Syracuse/Montana, 11 a.m.; Texas/Navy loser vs. Virginia/Arizona loser, 1:10 p.m.; Hartford vs. Syracuse/Montana, 3:20 p.m.; Texas/Navy winner vs. Virginia/Arizona winner, 5:30 p.m. Sunday: Seventh-place game, 11 a.m.; fifth-place game, 1:10 p.m.; third-place game, 3:20 p.m.; championship game, 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center RADIO: Live on 1420 TV: KFVE (Ch. 5) will broadcast tomorrow's Hawai'i-Hartford game on a delayed basis at 7 p.m. TICKET PRICES: $8 adults, $7 senior citizens, free for children (ages 4-18) and UH students with valid ID. Parking is $3.

While at volleyball practice for McKinley High, basketball coach Jesse Victorino stopped by and asked if Lee would come out for his team. She decided to play basketball to keep in shape for volleyball.

"But then I really liked basketball better," Lee said.

It was the final year she played volleyball.

This weekend, in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic, Lee will try to help the Rainbow Wahine (0-2) get their first win of the season.

Hawai'i plays Hartford (2-0) tomorrow at 4:50 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Lee is averaging 18.5 minutes a game, and is leading the Rainbow Wahine in rebounds at 9.5 per game. She had 12 rebounds against Lipscomb and seven against Maine last weekend, leading the team both nights.

"Coming into college, she's figured out how much faster, bigger and stronger the girls are," starting point guard Milia Macfarlane said. "Playing as a freshman at a post position, it is probably one of the hardest things anybody can do. Much more than it is at the guard position."

At 6 feet 1, Lee plays against players who are as tall as 6-5.

"She's undersized for a Division I post player," Hawai'i coach Vince Goo said. "But we saw that she had some quickness, and we knew that would offset a couple of inches that she didn't have at the post."

Lee was a second-team all state selection her senior year and a first-team selection her junior year — when she averaged 18 points and nine rebounds per game.

"In high school, it was easier because they are shorter," Lee said. "But here you have to box out and step back. And they are pushing you back. In high school they did, too, but they weren't as strong as now. You really have to muscle them."

Freshman wing Dalia Solia, who played against Lee while a member of the Kaimuki High team, said that back then, Lee was known for her size, good shooting range and turnaround jumper.

Now, Solia said that because Lee is smaller than the opponents she faces, "she's working a lot harder ... boxing out the big girls and working on them. She's faster than them so she can get around them."

To help negate her height disadvantage, Lee worked out in the weight room and conditioning during the summer, and according to Goo, she entered the program "farther along physically than the typical freshman."

And, Macfarlane said, "Now she's lifting more than the veterans, who have been playing for two to three years."

Lee, who is averaging three points per game, said she "isn't really a scorer," but that she is "turning that into a positive because I am working on my defense even more."

Assistant coach Gavin Petersen, who works with the post players, thinks differently.

He said that Hawai'i players tend to stay at the low block, but Lee has done a good job facing the basket.

"That is going to be Amber's strong point — she's going to be versatile," Petersen said. "And surprisingly, she can shoot the perimeter shots. The more comfortable she gets playing against the caliber of these players night in and night out, her offensive options should open up."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.