DENVER, Colo.--Rainbow Wahine basketball players Jade Abele, Michelle Gabriel and Christen Roper were named to the 2002-03 academic all-WAC basketball team. A total of 60 winter student-athletes from the conference's men's and women's basketball and women's swimming teams were named to the list.

It is the second time that Abele has been named to the team and the third time for both Gabriel and Roper. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's contests.

Abele, a sophomore forward from Gold Coast, Australia, started 29 of 30 contests for the Rainbow Wahine this season, and proved to be one of the best all-around players for the team, averaging 9.7 ppg and 3.6 rpg. She was the team leader is assists (4.1 per game) and was among the best in 3-pointers made (34), free throw shooting (79 percent) and steals (34). Abele holds a 3.44 GPA while majoring in pre-education.

Gabriel earned a starting spot as well as team tri-captain honors in her senior season. She put together a solid campaign, averaging 5.8 ppg and 3.0 apg and her heady play was one of the main reasons why UH ranked nationally in least turnovers per game. She went without a turnover in six games this season and averaged less than two per game while averaging 30 minutes on the court. The native of Kailua is an elementary education major with a 3.30 GPA and will graduate next spring.

Roper developed into the most intimidating defensive force in school history, re-writing the school and conference record books during her four-year career. This season the 6-5 senior center established a single-game school record (8), broke her own single-season mark (110) and set a new career standard (303) for both the school and conference in blocked shots. In her final game as a Rainbow Wahine at Arizona State, Roper set a new WNIT record for most blocks in a game(7). The native of Ojai, Calif., averaged 9.8 ppg and was the team leader in rebounding at 7.9 rpg. The history major has a 3.28 GPA and is scheduled to graduate in December with aspirations of becoming a high school teacher and coach.

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