A team that overcame quite a bit to make it to the NCAA Tournament resolved it would not leave without a fight.
The Hawaii women’s basketball team, which lost several key players to season-ending injuries then staged a late-season rally to win the Big West tournament, was up against a much greater challenge in third-seeded LSU on the Tigers’ home floor in Baton Rouge, La.
UH, seeded 14th in its quadrant of the bracket, hung around for much of the way before falling 73-50 at a packed Pete Maravich Assembly Center, bringing its season to a close at 18-15.
Point guard Lily Wahinekapu said she was proud of her team’s heart.
“We’re never giving up. We’re playing the full 40 minutes, the entire game, giving all we have,” Wahinekapu said.
After UH closed the season winning 10 of its last 13 games, center Kallin Spiller could smile. She scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in the final outing of her college career.
“Seeing we were able to still stick together, still have fun, and really pull together a string of wins that I think no one expected for us to get, after everything, was really exciting,” Spiller said. “I loved going out playing with my teammates every single day and I’m going to miss that.”
LSU’s All-America forward Angel Reese played up to her reputation with 34 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Reese was the first SEC player in the 21st century with a 30-point, 15-rebound NCAA Tournament game and tied the LSU record for points in an NCAA game.
LSU (29-2) advanced to face 6 seed Michigan in Sunday’s second round at PMAC. UH prepared to fly home via charter; it is scheduled to arrive back at Honolulu International Airport after 4 p.m. and be back at campus at 5 p.m.
Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman said her LSU counterpart, the outspoken Kim Mulkey, was “unbelievably complimentary towards these kids, our program. I wish them well in the tournament.”
In its second straight NCAA appearance against a much larger, more physically gifted opponent, UH mostly played up-and-up on the backboards. But 21 turnovers, 11 more than their opponent, were the Rainbow Wahine’s undoing.
“We rebounded pretty well, but turnovers got us,” Beeman said.
Wahinekapu tallied 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and three turnovers and forward Daejah Phillips scored 13 points on 9-for-10 free-throw shooting as the Wahine did not fall victim to a second-half runaway like Baylor applied last March.
LSU came in third in the nation in scoring at 84.1 points per game. UH conceded open 3-point shots in favor of collapsing on LSU’s potent frontcourt anchored by Reese. LSU shot just 1-for-14 on 3s and UH held LSU’s top guard Alexis Morris scoreless in the first half. Morris finished with six points.
But the 6-foot-3 Reese, a top WNBA Draft prospect who combines mobility with power, was a force, shooting 13-for-20 from the field and grabbing six offensive rebounds.
"Hawaii's a really great team. We couldn't go back and forth with them shooting the 3," Reese said. "Just being able to guard the perimeter and then we had the advantage inside, so just (tried) to get inside as much as we could."
The Wahine, meanwhile, bombed away from long range. Thirty-two of their 52 shots came from behind the arc. But they only connected on seven, with Spiller sinking three of them.
Still, UH trailed by only 13 at halftime, a closer margin at that point than when it rallied to win the Big West tournament championship game.
“I think what it came down to is when big shots had to be made, they made big shots and we missed open looks,” Beeman said. “To beat a team the quality of LSU, you have to hit wide-open shots. And we just didn’t do that.”
Despite playing in front of a crowd many times larger than the biggest it'd seen all season, UH came out unfazed by the atmosphere.
UH stopped Reese on LSU’s opening possession and Wahinekapu swished a 3 for the first points of the game. She followed with a hesitation drive and layup for a 5-4 advantage.
Wahinekapu took an early rest and LSU took control at that point, leading 18-7 after a quarter.
Phillips and Spiller kept UH in the neighborhood, and Meilani McBee splashed a left-wing 3 to keep her team within 29-22. LSU scored the final six points of the period to make it 35-22.
Spiller hit a right-wing 3 in the third to momentarily bring it back within single digits. Imani Perez (seven points, nine rebounds, five turnovers) missed one from the right corner later in the quarter that would’ve cut it to nine.
Phillips threw up a three-quarter-court heave with about eight seconds left in the third. LSU got it back and nearly tossed in a long 3 at the buzzer. As it was, the Tigers led by 15 going into the fourth.
UH missed its first five shots of the fourth quarter, during which time LSU pushed its lead past the 20-point mark.
Spiller hit back-to-back 3s to make it 67-48 with three minutes left and Mulkey, who had taken Reese out, brought her right back in and she went most of the rest of the way, ensuring UH would drop to 1-8 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. UH won its only one in 1990.
“Being against them, it’s clear they’re going to make a run,” Spiller said of LSU. “I’m rooting for them, for the ones who knocked us out. I’m hoping they go far.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.