Spencer-Vasconcellos earns hoops honor
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ki'i Spencer-Vasconcellos became the first Menlo (Atherton, Calif.) College basketball player named California Pacific Conference Most Valuable Player after leading the conference in scoring.
Spencer-Vasconcellos, a 1997 graduate of Punahou from Honolulu, averaged 15.9 points per game in conference play and was third in the conference with 3.5 assists per game. She also set a school record for points in a season (407), and started in all 17 games.
SPENCER-VASCONCELLOS
Also in women's basketball:
• Pacific (Forest Grove, Ore.) senior Katannya Kapeli (Kamehameha '00 of Kane'ohe) earned All-Northwest Conference honorable-mention honors after leading the team with 66 assists and finishing third in steals with 30.
Kapeli started all but one game she has played in as a Boxer, and finished her three-year Pacific career with an 8.1 scoring average. She averaged 7.6 points a game this season, scoring in double figures in six games.
• Pomona-Pitzer (Claremont, Calif.) senior guard Autumn Niibu (Hawai'i Prep '00 of Kailua, Kona) scored a team-high 17 points against University of Redlands on Feb. 25, making 4 of 8 3-pointers, and all five free-throws. She led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 5 of 10 3-pointers, against Whittier on Feb. 20. She also scored 11 points against Cal Lutheran on Feb. 23.
Men's Basketball
Homegrown Report chronicles feats of former Hawai'i high school athletes. If you know of any deserving of recognition, give us their names, high schools and graduation years, colleges and sports. E-mail us at: homegrown@honoluluadvertiser.com or contact Leila Wai at 535-2457. Homegrown Report appears every Wednesday in The Honolulu Advertiser.
• Pacific (Forest Grove, Ore.) sophomore guard Branden Kawazoe (Waiakea '02 of Hilo) earned All-Northwest Conference honorable-mention honors after averaging 12.7 points per game to rank 12th in the conference and leading the Boxers in scoring in eight of the past nine games.
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Kawazoe led Pacific with a .420 3-point shooting percentage, ranking fifth in the conference, and finished ninth in the league in 3-pointers made with 55. He also finished second in the conference in steals with 2.0 per game.
Women's Swimming
• Tulane (New Orleans, La.) freshman distance swimmer Leslie Christian (Leilehua '03 of Wahiawa) won the 1,650-yard freestyle at the Conference USA Championships on Saturday.
Christian posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:52.64, beating teammate Nicole Taheri by more than 16 seconds.
She also placed third in the 500 freestyle in 4:58.94.
Track and Field
• Michigan senior Vera Simms (Mililani '00) teamed with Andrea Parker, Stephanie Hirtle and Katie Erdman to win the distance medley relay in a track record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 11:33.76 on Saturday at the Big Ten Conference Indoor Championships.
Football
• Occidental College (Los Angeles) sophomore wide receiver Ric Fukushima (Moanalua '02 of Waipahu) was named to the 2003 Academic All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football team.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
