A magical run for the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team has come to an end.

The Rainbow Wahine were eliminated in the NCAA Tournament with a 73-50 loss to LSU in the first round in Baton Rouge on Friday.

After winning the Big West Conference tournament last week, the Rainbow Wahine were selected as 14 seed in the Greenville 2 Regional and were matched up against the 3-seeded Tigers, who started the 2023 campaign on a 23-game winning streak.

Although the Rainbow Wahine got the first basket of the game on a Lily Wahinekapu 3-pointer, the ‘Bows were outscored 17-5 for the rest of the period and could not catch up.

Kallin Spiller and Daejah Phillips each scored 13 points for the ‘Bows, while Wahinekapu had 11 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman Imani Perez had seven points and nine rebounds.

As a team, the Rainbow Wahine struggled with LSU’s quickness and athleticism on defensem turning the ball over 21 times.

For LSU, All-American Angel Reese had a game-high 34 points and 15 rebounds in a dominant effort.

Hawaii’s 2022-2023 campaign ends at 18-15, marking its second consecutive NCAA appearance in a row. The ‘Bows appear prepared to return the bulk of their production in the 2023-2024 season, as Spiller and reserve guard McKenna Haire are the only outgoing seniors on the team.