No San Jose State women’s basketball player has logged more minutes since the start of the 2016 season than senior Fieme’a Hafoka.
The 2016 Lahainaluna alumna has had to endure a lot of losses — 68 to be exact over her first three years.
For someone coming from a high school that went more than a decade without losing a game in Maui Interscholastic League play, it was difficult to deal with.
“It was tough physically, mentally and emotionally,” the 2016 Lunas alumna said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Twice, I wanted to just give up and go home, but my parents told me to push through it.
“I thought about the bigger picture where here I am on scholarship and I’m getting an education for free and I think that’s what got me through it.”
The Spartans have already won more games this season than any year prior during Hafoka’s four-year career and are 6-1 in Mountain West Conference play.
Hafoka is the featured athlete in this week’s Hawaii Grown section in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which you can read here.
Here are a few other notes on collegiate women’s basketball players from Hawaii:
>> Jasmine Moody, Radford ’15: The BYU senior forward led the Cougars’ bench with nine points and she also brought down seven rebounds and had three steals in Thursday’s 76-66 overtime win at Pacific (Calif.), bringing the Cougars to 10-7 this season.
>> Alexis Pana, Hilo ’16: The Central Washington senior guard set a season high on Thursday after draining four 3s, finishing with 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go with three rebounds in a 72-62 win against Western Washington. She added 15 points and five rebounds on Saturday in the Wildcats’ 65-59 loss to Simon Fraser (B.C.), bringing the Wildcats to 9-7.
>> Abby Aplaca, Punahou ’17: The Concordia (Ore.) junior guard scored six points and dished out four assists to go with her seven rebounds in Saturday’s 53-47 loss at St. Martin’s (Wash.).
>> Rose Shimaoka, Kaiser ’16: The Cornell (Iowa) senior guard scored nine points, shooting 3-for-3 from the free-throw line in Wednesday’s 54-45 loss to Ripon College.
>> Ysabelle Halemano, Maryknoll ’18: The Hope International sophomore guard scored two points and was all over the court with five rebounds, five steals and four assists helping the Royals to a 65-62 overtime win at Ottawa (Ariz.) on Thursday.
>> Brilie Kovaloff, Mid-Pacific ’19: The Pacific (Ore.) freshman guard scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds on Friday in a 65-64 win against Whitman. She added 15 points, three rebounds and two assists on Saturday in an 82-68 win against Whitworth, helping the Boxers to a 12-3 record and an eight-game win streak.
>> Tyra Moe, Punahou ’16: The Saint Mary’s (Calif.) senior forward scored six points to go along with seven rebounds and three assists on Saturday in a 65-55 loss to BYU.
>> Chanelle Molina, Konawaena ’16: The Washington State senior guard shot 8-for-15 from the field for 19 points to go with six assists and three rebounds in a 74-67 loss to Arizona. She added nine points, three assists and six rebounds on Saturday in a 65-56 loss to Arizona State.
>> Cherilyn Molina, Konawaena ’18: The Washington State sophomore guard scored eight points and grabbed two rebounds against Arizona State on Saturday.
>> Talia Brandner, Calvary Chapel Christian ’18: The Whitworth (Wash.) sophomore guard made 50% of her shots including five of nine field goals from 3-point range, to finish with 21 points, three assists and three rebounds as the Pirates fell 86-76 at George Fox on Friday.
Thanks for the updates, great to hear about their success!