FULLERTON, CALIF. » Then: A decided underdog, Cal State Fullerton, knocked off an up-and-coming Hawaii Rainbow Wahine squad in the 2013 Big West tournament second round.

Now: UH has arrived as a Big West power, riding a 14-game winning streak into Anaheim’s Honda Center as the top seed. Championship aspirations are high as they seek their first conference title game appearance since 2002, when UH was still in the WAC. Not much has changed on the Fullerton side.

The seventh-seeded Titans would still love to spring another upset at the expense of the favorite Rainbow Wahine in their early Friday semifinal matchup.

For UH, it’s about taking the next step under third-year coach Laura Beeman, the Big West Coach of the Year.

"We’re going hard. The focus is incredible," Beeman said. "These guys have the vision, ambition. Practices have been very hard going into the tournament, probably harder than most people think we would go. But that’s really the only way (this) group of girls knows how to go."

The Wahine fell in the semifinals to Cal Poly last season, but earned a double-bye right back to that round thanks to the program’s first regular-season title since 1997-98.

UH (22-7) will look to its veteran leadership — Shawna-Lei Kuehu, Ashleigh Karaitiana and the injured Morgan Mason — to steady nerves in a pressure-packed setting.

"They’ve been there before and they’re keeping us calm," freshman forward Dalayna Sampton said. "(They told us) people pull out different tricks. But there’s not much more you can teach us other than just play hard, get through things and defensively, our team always focuses on that. We’re ready for this tournament and we’re excited."

The Titans have already put together a solid run. They knocked off sixth-seeded UC Riverside (and Big West Player of the Year Brittany Crain) 71-59 in the first round, then upended No. 3 Cal Poly 55-48 on Wednesday.

CSF was aided by hosting the first two rounds in the intimate confines of its own Titan Gym. But now the tournament shifts to the 18,000-seat "Pond," home to the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

During UH’s streak, it beat CSF (13-18) twice — 54-43 in Fullerton on Feb. 14 and 61-38 on senior night just last Saturday.

However, Titans coach Daron Park rested his key players in the latter. All-Big West first-team guard Chante Miles (19.5 ppg, 41.1 percent field-goal shooting) and league honorable mention forward Kathleen Iwuoha (12.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg) played just eight minutes apiece in the blowout.

Park was hired by CSF athletic director Jim Donovan, who also hired Beeman in 2012 while he was still at UH. After his team’s defeat of Cal Poly, Park said he had a "special feeling" about his team’s run.

"They are a grown-up version of Cal Poly," Park said of Hawaii. "We talk about Cal Poly being physical, Hawaii is that times two. They’re really good and dominant this year in the conference. They haven’t lost in forever. So it’s going to be an amazing challenge for us, but I tell you this, there’s nothing I’d rather do than have that challenge."

UH will have to be mindful of the 3-point arc. No Big West team attempted more from long range than Fullerton’s 22.5 per game. By contrast, UH hoists from deep just 13.3 times per game.

Size and defense remain UH’s greatest assets. It was the top rebounding team in the league with a 44.2 average, and held foes to just 36.3 percent shooting for the season.

"They’re a very talented, very athletic team. They have to be to get past Cal Poly," Beeman said. "We played them on senior night. The difference will be he will play his entire roster this game. … We’ll see a very different team, like the one we played (at Fullerton). But we’re confident. We just have to play Hawaii basketball."

In an interesting twist, the Wahine were hosted at Fullerton Junior College for their tune-up practices by none other than Marcia Foster, the former Cal State Fullerton coach who led the Titans past the Wahine two years ago.

Beeman and Foster were friendly rivals in past years coaching in the junior college ranks.

"(Practices were) staying in competition mode, staying in winning mode," said junior Destiny King, who has run the point in the absence of Mason (ankle sprain). "I can expect more effort from any other team. We have a target on our back, as Coach said, all the time. So we just need to come back on fire."

UH will try to win with the same style as what got it to this point — a well-rounded approach wherein its best player, Kuehu, often acts as an energizer off the bench.

"We’ve been playing team ball for this whole year and it shouldn’t stop," King said. "It shouldn’t be an individual game, and it hasn’t been in a long time."

Mason remains a game-day decision, Beeman said.