LOS ANGELES >> In the end, there was disappointment in the result, but pride in the journey.

Hawaii’s first appearance in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament since 1998 ended with a 66-50 first-round loss to UCLA on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, punctuating a season that will hold a prominent place in Rainbow Wahine history.

“Great growth,” UH coach Laura Beeman said of her takeaway from the season. “An amazing group of young women. … They’ve set expectations, they’ve set goals. Just great pride in what this group has done this year.

“Just because you lose this game, it doesn’t take away all the other things this group has accomplished.”

The Wahine, the 14th seed in the Bridgeport Region, struggled from the field against the third-seeded Bruins and closed the season at 21-11 a week after earning the Big West’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the conference championship.

“Especially being here for four years, that was a dream come true, to come to the tournament,” UH senior Destiny King said in an emotional postgame press conference. “Was it the result we wanted? No, but for our program and our state it means a lot … because we put ourselves on the map.”

Once the Wahine took the court after a whirlwind week, UCLA’s length shortened UH’s stay in the NCAA bracket.

The Bruins outscored the Wahine 34-10 in the paint, blocked eight shots and harried UH into 20 percent shooting from the field while converting on 44 percent of their shots.

“We did not bring our A game, and that is because of what they did to us,” Beeman said after concluding her fourth season leading the program.

UH held the rebounding edge 45-42 and grabbed 20 offensive boards, but the Wahine struggled to get clean looks at the basket and posted their second-lowest point total of the season while going 12-for-60 on field-goal attempts. They stayed within sight of the Bruins thanks largely to 22-for-30 shooting from the free-throw line.

“They’re long, they’re quick, they cover ground very, very quickly,” Beeman said. “I thought we adjusted pretty well as the game continued to go on, but they made us play fast, they closed gaps very quickly. … They’re just a very athletic, disciplined team in what they do defensively.”

UCLA senior Nirra Fields led the Bruins (25-8) with 16 points and freshman guard Kennedy Burke added 15 points off the bench on 6-for-7 shooting. Forward Monique Billings, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, finished with eight points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

“Wasn’t our prettiest game of basketball, but I want to give credit to Hawaii,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “They were so consistently aggressive. … I thought they came in and played fearlessly. They were definitely the aggressor on a lot of plays and they gave us all we could handle.”

The Bruins will face South Florida, a 48-45 winner against Colorado State in Saturday’s second game, in the round of 32 on Monday.

UH sophomore Megan Huff posted 18 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for her fourth double-double of the season. Senior Marissa Wimbley sparked the Wahine with three 3-pointers in the first half and King added eight points and nine rebounds in her final UH game.

Including King and Wimbley, Saturday’s loss ended the UH careers of six Wahine seniors who contributed to four consecutive postseason appearances, the first three in the WNIT before this season’s NCAA breakthrough.

“Once you get past the sadness, it’s the amount of stuff we’ve achieved this year,” senior Ashleigh Karaitiana said. “And it’s not just this year, it’s the process of all four years we’ve had with Coach Beeman, and we’ve made it a step further every year.”

Ignited by Wimbley’s outside shooting, the Wahine took a lead midway through the first quarter, but the scoring dried up while UCLA went on a 19-3 run bridging the quarters and took a 37-25 lead into halftime.

UH committed eight turnovers in the first quarter, with the Bruins scoring 11 points off of takeaways. But Beeman said it wasn’t the pace that kept the Wahine from making a run at a comeback.

“When we ran, it bode well for us,” Beeman said. “It was when they put us in a halfcourt offense and we couldn’t get penetration and we couldn’t get shots off, that’s when the game turned.

“They stopped our transition completely and with their length when we’d get offensive rebounds they’d block us, or a post touch and they’d block us.”

UCLA led by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter and could look ahead to the second round while UH reflected on the season past and the potential ahead.

“I think it raised the standard for people coming in,” Huff said, “that they have to live up to the expectations of the seniors who have carried us for the past four years.”

NO. 10 UCLA 66, Hawaii 50

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

3-point goals — Hawaii 4-23 (Wimbley 3-7, Huff 1-1, King 0-2, Crawford 0-4, Harris 0-4, Karaitiana 0-5). UCLA 3-8 (Burke 2-3, Fields 1-3, Korver 0-1, Hersler 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 6 (Huff 2, Adolpho, Crawford, Harris, Wimbley). UCLA 8 (Billings 2, Drummer 2, Burke, Canada, Fields, Korver). Blocked shots — Hawaii 4 (Huff 3, Karaitiana). UCLA 8 (Billings 5, Burke, Fields, Hearn). Turnovers — Hawaii 17 (Harris 6, King 4, Karaitiana 3, Adolpho, Crawford, Wimbley, TEAM). UCLA 18 (Canada 4, Billings 3, Fields 3, Burke 2, Drummer 2, Korver 2, Hayes, TEAM). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Bob Scofield, Cathi Cornell, Angel Stanton. A–NA.