"I went to watch her play a high school game and she's wearing makeup on the court," Abele said. "I was looking at her going, 'Oh man.' Miss Aloha is not going to cut it. I thought she was a total pretty girl."

Turns out, the "total pretty girl" had no such reservations, and happily embraced Abele as a new teammate four seasons ago.

"I thought she was the the funniest person I've ever met," Macfarlane said. "She has this way of making people laugh all the time. I always look forward to be in her company."

Tonight, the highly entertaining and talented senior co-captains will play in their final home game against Rice. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

In their careers, Abele and Macfarlane have combined to appear in nearly 200 games for the Rainbow Wahine and were members of the 2002 and 2003 Women's National Invitational Tournament squads.

Jade Abele

As for Macfarlane, she has had a breakout senior campaign after playing sparingly in her previous seasons. The 5-foot-5 guard from Honolulu has started all 22 games this season. She co-leads the team in steals (30) and is second in assists (64). She has also served as team co-captain the past two seasons.

"I came into this season with the attitude that I wasn't going to disappoint myself," said Macfarlane, who is averaging 7.6 points per game. "If that meant I wasn't going to be playing, then fine. I was going to enjoy my time with the girls. I just wanted to play so badly after really not playing for three years. I just wanted to have fun."

Macfarlane's outgoing personality has been a hit with teammates, fans and the media. Nicknamed "Miss Aloha," Macfarlane is friendly with everyone and wears her trademark flower tucked above her ear, a style she picked up from her mom, Martha.

"If you ever met my family, we're all pretty much Miss Alohas," Macfarlane said. "But I think I'm the most frou-frou one. I think the flower makes me look better.

"Everybody used to tease me in high school," Macfarlane continued. "I used to wear the flowers that were huge. Even the fake ones. Everybody would say, 'It's bigger than your head!' But I didn't care. I wanted to stand out, and I think I did. Now, every single girl at Punahou, they wear those huge flowers."

As for Abele, she's come a long way since her first game under former head coach Vince Goo. She has appeared in more than 100 career games, including 78 consecutive starts.

"I remember my first game," Abele said. "The first 30 seconds I went in there, I tried a cross-court pass. They picked it off. I thought, 'Vince is yanking me. I'm never going to play in this program again.' I was so nervous."

"Now that I'm a senior, I look at when (freshmen) Saundra Cariaga and Tanya Smith go in," Abele continued. "They're so twitchy. I look at them and go, 'Oh man, I remember going through this.' We keep telling them it gets better."

Bolla said he was pleased with Abele's versatile play this season. In the Western Athletic Conference, Abele ranks 13th in scoring (11.6), 10th in rebounding (7.1) and sixth in assists (3.95).

"She's really sacrificed more than anybody else on the team," Bolla said. "She's given up being that leading scorer. She's rebounding the ball, she's playing defense, and she sees the floor really well. Jade has done a really good job from being the leading scorer to being a really complete all-around player."

Abele can also be an all-around comedian, cracking jokes and providing much humor with her spectacular on-court tumbles. Abele averages "five falls a day," according to Macfarlane.

"Jade has been saying all the lines on the court jump out at her," Macfarlane said. "They hit her so hard, she just goes flying. She just flops. But she is getting a lot more graceful."

Abele is on track to graduate in December with a degree in physical education. However, she said she's contemplating becoming a graduate assistant with the team, and may graduate later in the spring with Macfarlane, who is pursing an elementary education degree. Macfarlane earlier taught at Hongwanji Mission School, and now teaches kindergarten at Kapalama Elementary School.

Abele and Macfarlane said they appreciated the several hundred spectators at Rainbow Wahine games.

Abele said her friend and former softball player Kate Judd hasn't missed a game, and added many fans who supported former players Raylene Howard and Kylie Galloway several years ago have remained to support her.

Macfarlane said she's lucky to have her family, friends and boyfriend, Keani Alapa, attend games.

"I can't tell them enough how thankful we are," Macfarlane said. "For the loyal fans who have been there from Day 1, we're so grateful for them."