Rainbow Wahine practice in Pauley Pavilion

The University of Hawaii women’s basketball team learned on Monday it would face UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Rainbow Wahine held their first practice in advance of the matchup on Tuesday and got their first look at Pauley Pavilion on Friday.

The preparation for their opportunity on Saturday began quite a bit earlier.

“We started that in July,” UH coach Laura Beeman said.

Beeman has regularly referred “the process” since UH’s opening practice and it has led the Wahine (21-10) to their matchup with UCLA (24-8) Saturday at Pauley Pavilion in UH’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998.

“We’ve had a process, for (the seniors) for four years, but for our team since July,” Beeman said in a press conference prior to Friday’s practice. “And once they really said, ‘we understand, we believe and we’re going to buy in and commit to this process,’ that’s when we started to really roll as a team.”

Beeman and seniors Ashleigh Karaitiana and Destiny King participated in the press conference before the Wahine took the court for a 90-minute practice on Nell and John Wooden Court on Friday.

After practice, they took a group photo with Tennessee and WNBA great Candace Parker, who will be the analyst on the ESPN2 telecast. Beeman got to know Parker during her stint as an assistant with the Los Angeles Sparks.

UH will attempt to become the first No. 14 seed to advance in the NCAA women’s tournament. A Big West team hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since UC Santa Barbara won twice in 2004.