HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's basketball team will be making its 10th all-time appearance in the Women's National Invitational Tournament against Saint Mary's at McKeon Pavilion on Friday at 4 p.m. HT.
 
The Rainbow Wahine's (15-16, 10-6) matchup with the Gaels (20-11, 12-6) will be the program's first appearance in a national postseason tournament since the 2015-16 campaign. UH has not won a tournament game since 2001 when the program went to the semifinals of the WNIT, and has not won a road game in a tournament setting since a 1990 victory over Montana in the NCAA tournament.
 
Game #32 Information:
TEAMS: Hawai'i (15-16, 10-6), Saint Mary's (20-11, 12-6)
WHEN:  Friday, Mar. 22, 2019, 4:00 p.m. HT
WHERE: McKeon Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: CBS Sports 1500
VIDEO STREAMING: WCCSports.com
LIVE STATS: www.hawaiiathletics.com
 
Game Notes:
 
• UH will be making its 10th appearance in the WNIT and its 17th post-season appearance in a national tournament.
 
• As a program, UH is 6-18 all-time in national post season play, and is 5-12 all-time in the WNIT.
 
• The Rainbow Wahine enter the WNIT after falling 58-50 in the championship game of the Big West Conference Tournament on Mar. 16 to UC Davis. Due to the 'Bows (10-6) finishing at No. 2 in the regular season standings of the BWC, they were awarded as an automatic qualifier in the WNIT.
 
• UH and Saint Mary's last met in 2015, and just happened to be in the opening round of the WNIT. The Gaels narrowly escaped with a 92-88 overtime victory.
 
• The 2000-2001 season was the last time the 'Bows won a national post-season tournament game, and it came in the WNIT. UH made it to the tournament semifinals after picking up wins against Santa Clara, Brigham Young, and Oklahoma State, with all three victories coming with home court advantage on the island of O'ahu.
 
• UH has not won a road game or neutral site game in the WNIT since 1992. The 'Bows notched wins over Florida International and Arkansas State in Amarillo, Tex. as part of a neutral site tournament setting.
 
•Eight coaches have had the honor of leading the UH women's basketball program since 1974, of those eight, three have taken the 'Bows to a national postseason tournament. The first being under Jerry Busone in 1983, followed by legendary head coach Vince Goo from 1987-2004, as UH made 10 national postseason appearances.  It was a 10-year drought before head coach Laura Beeman began her own trend in her first season leading UH to the WNIT, followed another two years of WNIT appearances, followed by the NCAA tournament in 2016.
 
CALL IT A TURNAROUND
After starting the season at 1-7, UH began turning its season around once it entered conference play. Throughout the 2019 campaign, UH was consistently bouncing between the No. 2 and No. 5 spots. Entering the last week and a half of the season, and sitting at No. 5. UH put together a three-game win streak to move into the No. 2 position, and another win in the tournament semifinals to put the win streak at four, putting UH in the conference championship game.