When an e-mail of congratulations arrived from her mother in Australia on Sunday, University of Hawai'i basketball player Tanya Smith said she did a double take at the keyboard.

"I'm like, 'congratulations? What for?' " Smith said.

Then, the junior forward learned she had become the first Rainbow Wahine to make the All-Western Athletic Conference first team in three years.

"It was a surprise," Smith said.

It shouldn't have been.

The 6-foot-3 Smith, who will help lead UH against Fresno State in the first round of the WAC tournament tomorrow, has been the picture of consistency for the Rainbow Wahine in an up-and-down 15-13 (9-7 conference) season. "As coach (Jim) Bolla likes to say, she has been there for us all year, game in and game out," Hawai'i acting head coach Pat Charity said. "She is an unbelievable worker who gives it all she has every game."

Smith is averaging 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, leading UH in rebounding, field goal percentage (.524) and double-doubles (nine) while being third in scoring.

"She has really blossomed from her freshman year in which she played sparingly," Charity said. "She played a lot as a sopho-more and then came back after working hard over the summer and has started all the games except senior night (when Amber Lee, a senior started)."

Still, Smith said when she thought about postseason honors, she was rooting for teammate and fellow forward Pam Tambini to make the All-WAC team. "She was very deserving and she's a senior," Smith said. "She worked real hard and I've got one more year to make it."

Charity said she is impressed with Smith's work, too. "Her job inside means it is very physical, very tough. She gets pounded and stepped on and she takes it all — and gives it right back."

Said Smith: "(All conference) is nice but we'd rather win the conference than have the individual honors. That's when I'll celebrate, when we win the WAC."

The Rainbow Wahine had their first practice yesterday since arriving Sunday in Las Cruces, N.M., the site of the tournament.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.