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BATON ROUGE, La. – Big West champion and No. 14 seed Hawai'i succumbed to third-seeded host LSU, 73-50, in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Maravich Center on Friday afternoon.
The Rainbow Wahine were led by 13 points off the bench from Dajeah Phillips, including a 9-of-10 effort from the free throw line. Kallin Spiller closed with 13 points and five rebounds in her final appearance as Rainbow Wahine player, and sophomore guard Lily Wahinekapu added 11 points and six rebounds in her first appearance in the national postseason.
The loss snaps a five-game winning streak for UH, closing the year at 18-15. LSU remained perfect at home this season, moving to 29-2 on the season under the direction of Kim Mulkey.
Unfortunately for UH, the play of All-American Angel Reese proved to be too much to overcome as the sophomore All-American poured in 34 points with 18 rebounds in the game, accounting for nearly half of the Tigers' offensive output. It was Reese's 29th double-double of the season.
LSU held a 44-16 scoring advantage in the paint and the stifling Tiger defense held the Rainbow Wahine to 31 percent shooting while forcing 21 turnovers with 12 steals and eight blocks.
Hawai'i scored the first points of the contest, a three from Wahinekapu, but the long ball wasn't kind as UH went 7-for-32 from distance in the game. Despite a 13-point deficit at the break, UH cut it to nine following a Spiller three-pointer with seven minutes left in the third quarter. But the Tigers extended its lead to 15 by the end of the third quarter and put the game away for good by converting 9-of-11 field goals in the final quarter.
Representing The Big West in back-to-back seasons on the national stage, UH earned its place in the NCAA Tournament field after mounting a 15-point comeback to take down UC Santa Barbara 61-59 last Saturday in The Big West Championship finale.
In that contest, Las Vegas native Phillips scored the winning bucket and ensuing free throw with 2.6 seconds to play to seal the win for the Rainbow Wahine.
No. 3 seed LSU now hosts No. 6 seed Michigan in the Round of 32. Sunday's game time is still to be determined.