LOS ANGELES >> Coming back from a road loss in late January, a postseason trip in March appeared distant for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team.
Coming off a defeat at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 23 — a team they’d beaten by 27 nine days earlier — the Wahine trudged home at 10-9 overall and 3-3 in the Big West.
A little less than two months later, they made the flight from Los Angeles International Airport back to Honolulu again on a Sunday, this time following a landmark NCAA tournament appearance.
After a sometimes ragged first 19 games, the Rainbow Wahine won 11 of their last 13, finishing second in the Big West regular-season race before claiming the conference tournament title to secure an NCAA berth and continue the program’s progression in coach Laura Beeman’s four-year tenure.
UH capped a 21-11 season with a 66-50 loss to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion and left Nell and John Wooden Court to an appreciative ovation from a ti-leaf waving crowd of supporters on hand to witness UH’s first appearance in the tournament in 18 years.
“To end on this note, it’s overwhelming, it makes my heart full,” Beeman said in the postgame press conference. “If you don’t live in Hawaii you don’t understand it. To be part of the first team to come back to the tournament since 1998, it’s an honor.”
UH posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since a run of three straight from 2000 to ’02 and took the season-defining step from the WNIT to the NCAA tournament. The team’s four-year seniors went to the postseason each year, tying the program record for consecutive appearances previously set from 2000 to ’03.
“If you were to look at us in the beginning of the season, people probably had doubt in us and what we would be able to accomplish,” senior guard Marissa Wimbley said after hitting three 3-pointers against UCLA. “But that’s what defines Hawaii, that’s what defines this group of girls. … The amount of hard work and sacrifice and dedication and love we share with one another is what makes us who Hawaii is.”
Guard/forward Destiny King and guard Ashleigh Karaitiana closed their careers as part of the program’s 1,000-point club. King, a first-team All-Big West selection, also finished her career as one of five players in UH history with more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists and led the team in all three categories this season.
Saturday’s game also marked the final UH appearances for Wimbley and centers Kalei Adolpho, Brianna Kennedy and Connie Morris.
“This whole week has been overwhelming,” King said. “To make the tournament it’s been something special, it’s been a dream of mine since high school. Coming into this program that’s what I wanted and we made history.”
UH was the Big West’s top rebounding team and toughest to score against. They outrebounded opponents by nearly 11 boards per games and held them to 59.3 points per game on 37.4 percent shooting.
Beeman distributed the minutes throughout the 13-player roster for most of the season, giving the Wahine an experienced core to build around next season while integrating an incoming class of six freshmen, including three from Australia.
“We’ve got a lot of growth that we’ve got to do in this offseason,” Beeman said.
“We’re going to struggle early on, but I do think we have a good nucleus coming back and the experience is huge and we could end up putting ourselves in a nice position again next year.”
Sophomore Megan Huff figures to be a central figure coming off her second Big West sixth player of the year award. She led the Wahine with 33 blocks and finished second on the team in scoring and rebounding while coming off the bench. She closed the season with an 18-point, 13-rebound performance against UCLA and is projected to start next season.
“I think it helped me grow a lot,” Huff said of her season sendoff. “It gave me a lot of confidence seeing that I can keep up with these girls and it helped push up my level because I want to be at the same level or better.”
Freshman point guard Olivia Crawford moved into the starting lineup just before the start of conference play and sophomore Sarah Toeaina made 20 starts.
Guard Briana Harris, the team’s lone returning junior, provided scoring punch off the bench in Big West play and was second on the team with 35 3-pointers. UH is also slated to return freshman twins Leah and Lahni Salanoa and sophomore forward Dalayna Sampton.
The returnees will have the experience of an NCAA berth to build upon along with the lessons and legacy left behind by the seniors.
“We set the bar high with this team. Going into the offseason (the returnees) know it’s time to go,” King said. “I think they know what they need to do and the type of leadership they need to bring and they’ll have us backing them up.”
