Olympics 2004

Tania (Brunton) Tupu brought her slash-and-bash international style to the University of Hawai'i nearly a decade ago. She will finish her basketball career in Athens, in her second Olympics with the New Zealand Tall Ferns.

Tania (Brunton) Tupu

Australia's top-four World Championship finish gave the Oceania Region a second slot in the 12-team Olympic field. As the Ferns claimed it, Tupu was contemplating her future in business and settling into her marriage with former New Zealand guard Chris Tupu.

"I didn't think I had time to give to international ball," she said. "One last shot at the Olympics kept me in the picture."

Her knees, somehow, have held up through a dozen years with New Zealand's national team and five college seasons in the United States. She red-shirted for UH in 1994-95, along with honorable mention All-American Nani Cockett, after both suffered season-ending injuries.

Hawai'i went a program-worst 6-20 that season. Cockett and Tupu lifted them to 23-6 and their first — and still only — conference tournament championship the following year.

It remains the most dramatic turnaround in NCAA women's basketball history. The program's first foreign player (Tupu is also half maori) led the team in scoring and rebounding and drove over anyone in her way.

"We had to tone her down a little," said recently retired UH coach Vince Goo. "She didn't have 12 fouls."

"I certainly didn't think my knees would outlast Vince's career," Tupu said. "But I guess he wants to spend more time on the golf course."

Tupu said the difference in her game now is that she is "older, slower and smarter." The parts of her game that came from paradise are "persistence, drive and great manners."

New Zealand opens Saturday against Team USA, which hasn't lost an Olympic game since 1992. That doesn't scare Tupu, who scored New Zealand's first-ever Olympic points in Sydney.

After the Games, she expects basketball to be in her past, along with all the knee inflammation.

Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, who played for Hawai'i in 1999 and 2000, was one of the final cuts for New Zealand. McMeeken-Ruscoe transferred to Buffalo, where she was the team's most valuable player and captain as a senior. She graduated No. 1 in the school of management.

Men's basketball

At Helliniko Indoor Arena

Hawai'i times (might differ from TV time)

Sunday —Puerto Rico vs. United States, 7 a.m.

Tuesday —United States vs. Greece, 9:15 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 19 — USA vs. Australia, 1:30 a.m.

Saturday, Aug. 21 — Lithuania vs. United States, 7 a.m.

Monday, Aug. 23 — USA vs. Angola, 1:30 a.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 24

11th place, 1:30 a.m.
9th place, 3:45 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 26

Quarterfinal, 1:30 a.m.
Quarterfinal, 3:45 a.m.
Quarterfinal, 7 p.m.
Quarterfinal, 9:15 a.m.

Friday, Aug. 27

Semifinal, 7 a.m.
Semifinal, 9:15 a.m.
7th place, 8 p.m.
5th place, 10:15 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 28

Bronze Medal, 7 a.m.
Gold Medal, 9:30 a.m.

Women's basketball

At Helliniko Indoor Arena

Hawai'i times (might differ from TV times)

Saturday — USA vs. New Zealand, 1:30 a.m.

Monday, Aug. 16 — Czech Republic vs. USA, 1:30 a.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 18 — South Korea vs. United States, 1:30 a.m.

Friday, Aug. 20 — United States vs. Spain, 1:30 a.m.

Sunday, Aug. 22 — China vs. United States, 7 a.m.

Monday, Aug. 23 — 11th place, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 24 — 9th place, 2:15 a.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 25 — Quarterfinal, 1:30 a.m., 3:45 a.m., 7 a.m., 9:15 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 26 — 7th place, 8 p.m.; 5th place, 10:15 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 27 — Semifinal, 1:30 a.m., 3:45 a.m.

Saturday, Aug. 28 — Bronze Medal, 1 a.m. Gold Medal, 3:15 a.m.