Rainbow Wahine to face LSU in NCAA basketball tournament

Two-time Big West champion Hawaii will face Louisiana State University in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday in Baton Rouge, La.

The Rainbow Wahine (18-14) rallied past UC Santa Barbara on Saturday to earn the Big West’s automatic bid for the second straight year and will make consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 1989 and 1990 seasons.

UH was slotted today as a No. 14 seed in the Greenville 2 region in the program’s eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. LSU (28-2) is the No. 3 seed in the region. The Tigers finished second in the Southeastern Conference at 15-1 behind South Carolina, the No. 1 overall seed.

The Hawaii-LSU winner will face the winner of a game between Michigan, the No. 6 seed in the region, and 11th-seeded UNLV.

The Rainbow Wahine rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to edge UC Santa Barbara in the Big West tournament championship game on Saturday at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.

The Rainbow Wahine remained in Nevada to watch today’s selection show.

UH was a No. 15 seed last year and ended the season with a loss at second-seeded Baylor in the tournament’s opening round.