Ashleigh Karaitiana was given a rousing sendoff at the Stan Sheriff Center last March in a senior night ceremony highlighted by a Maori haka led by her father.
Karaitiana, one of the mainstays of the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team’s postseason berths the past three years, will have a chance to experience a second senior night after being granted another season of eligibility by the NCAA. UH announced Karaitiana’s return to the Rainbow Wahine roster on Tuesday.
“I don’t know if they’ll be able to beat that, but it’s definitely going to be big,” Karaitiana said. “Dad’s already excited about senior night, trying to figure out how he’s going to do a better haka.”
Karaitiana, a 6-foot guard/forward from New Zealand, was a second-team All-Big West selection last season after earning honorable mention recognition the previous two years.
Her return gives the Rainbow Wahine three returning starters and 11 returning letter-winners off of last season’s team, which finished 23-9 overall and 14-2 in the Big West. They fell one win short of reaching the NCAA tournament, losing to CSUN in the Big West tournament final.
“I think we have a really good foundation considering we have three returning starters,” Karaitiana said. “There are a lot of big shoes to fill, especially Shawna-Lei (Kuehu) being our captain and the person who carried the team. So a lot of us have to step up now … and we have to lead this team to where we want to go.”
Karaitiana started 30 games last season and averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game to help the Wahine capture the Big West regular-season title and earn a third straight berth in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
She was UH’s leading 3-point shooter the past two years, draining 45 last season, and finished second on the team in scoring. Karaitiana’s return also gives the Wahine a lengthy presence on the perimeter on defense.
Karaitiana sat out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA regulations after taking an extra year to graduate from high school in Australia. She said playing with Australia’s Under-19 team forced her to repeat a year, which initially cost her a year of eligibility when she enrolled at UH.
She twice had appeals to regain the year denied, but a rule change in 2013 prompted Karaitiana, Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman and the UH compliance staff to give it another shot this summer.
Karaitiana was advised not to get her hopes up but to “keep your fingers crossed” during the process. A call from Beeman to report to her office Tuesday morning raised her anxiety.
Karaitiana entered to serious looks from Beeman and compliance officer Richard Greene, “and I thought they were going to say, ‘You’re done,’ ” she said.
“But they told me I had my year back and I was speechless.”
