FULLERTON, CALIF. » Hopes have given way to expectations.

Big West regular-season champion Hawaii held a business-like practice at Fullerton College on Tuesday, the first full session of the week as the Rainbow Wahine prepare for Friday’s Big West tournament semifinals.

Intense focus was evident on the faces of both UH coaches and players.

UH lost in the second round in coach Laura Beeman’s first season in Manoa. Last year, the Wahine came up short against Cal Poly in the semifinals at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Now, though, with top-seeded UH (22-7 14-2 Big West) riding a 14-game winning streak back into the Honda, the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998 never felt so close.

"Much more confident," said Beeman, the newly minted Big West Coach of the Year. "Been here, familiarity, (we) are pretty much on a mission. Feel like we have something to prove. Not because we’re the No. 1 seed, but because we’ve been here three years in a row and we have not yet reached our ultimate goal. The mind-set is relaxed, yet focused. Confident yet still wanting to work hard."

Senior wing Ashleigh Karaitiana is one of a handful of Wahine players who’ve grown from past disappointments.

"Every year we’ve made another step forward," she said. "So, this year’s the year. The seniors believe in it, the freshman, all the girls around, we all believe that this is the year we’re going to win the championship and make the NCAA."

Because of its dominant regular-season run, UH earned a double-bye straight into the semifinals, allowing it to skip two preliminary rounds at Cal State Fullerton. The Wahine will not know their semi opponent until Wednesday’s two second-round games are completed; they will face the lowest surviving seed at 9 a.m. in a game streamed on ESPN3.

The program’s only Big West tournament title came in 1996, before UH joined the WAC in women’s hoops for a 16-year period, during which time it never hoisted a league tourney championship.

All-Big West first-teamer Shawna-Lei Kuehu tried not to make much over what will be the last conference tournament in her storied six-year career.

"It’s a two-game road trip," Kuehu said. "That’s basically what we’re thinking on it, I’m thinking about it as. We’ve done it before, we’ve won on the road two games before. I just gotta go in thinking like that, because if I put any more pressure than there already is on top of the game, I think I play tight, our team will play tight. But we know it’s winning time."

If UH needed any extra motivation — doubtful — the team might have gotten some Monday, when Brittany Crain of sixth-seeded UC Riverside was named the Big West Player of the Year over Kuehu.

Beeman was vocal in objecting to that result, pointing to Kuehu’s sacrifices in willingly coming off the bench in many games, which impacted her personal numbers.

"She said I deserved it and whatnot, but Brittany Crain is a really good player," Kuehu said. "I’m not too sure it was justifiable, considering they are the sixth-place (seed). But you know what, she’s a really good player. She puts up the numbers (22.1 ppg).

"But you know what, that doesn’t even matter. Player of the Year, first team, none of it matters. Because we want a ring. We want to win in the Big West tournament championship game. That’s what we want. So, individual accolades, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t get you a win. That’s our goal, that’s my mind-set."

Whoever UH plays in its first game, it will be an opponent the Wahine swept home-and-home during the regular season. UH’s only losses came on the road to second-seeded Cal State Northridge and third-seeded Cal Poly, both of whom UH would not face until the championship. Kuehu sat out with an injury in both losses.

"A little bit (tough not knowing who we’re playing)," Beeman said. "I think it’s more the anticipation, we want to know. But we’ve seen everybody twice … unless someone’s doing something completely new, which most people don’t this time of year, I guess it’s just the anticipation of who we’re going to play, but we’re familiar with everybody."

Senior point guard Morgan Mason did some light running during Tuesday’s practice as she works to return from an ankle sprain.

Beeman called Mason a "game-day decision" for Friday, adding that if she cannot go, she’ll be available for postseason play beyond.