Postseason play is no longer a punchline for Hawaii. That didn’t stop Rainbow Wahine coach Laura Beeman from making a joke at her team’s expense.

At Monday’s team practice, Beeman played possum with the news that the Wahine were announced to the 2013 Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the program’s first postseason appearance in 10 years.

"Coach called us to halfcourt and she got the meanest look on her face," junior forward Kamilah Martin said. "So everybody was like, ‘Aww, we didn’t get in.’ And then she’s like, ‘Just kidding! Gotcha.’ So we were all really happy, but then we kept going with practice, so that wasn’t the fun part."

UH heads to San Diego today to play the USD Toreros (21-9), the West Coast Conference runner-up, in a Thursday contest at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

The Wahine (17-13) flew back home and continued to practice on campus over the weekend after their disappointing 66-51 defeat to upstart Cal State Fullerton in the Big West tournament last Wednesday, just in case they got invited on Monday.

"It’s tough to practice if you don’t know if you’re practicing for a purpose," said Beeman, the first-year coach. "And we told the girls that we felt pretty confident we were going to get in and that we needed to practice as if we were. And they did. It’s been great to be on the court. I feel like we have a renewed energy."

UH, which tied for second in the Big West standings, was one of four BWC teams to receive WNIT invitations. Regular-season champion Pacific, fourth-place UC Santa Barbara and fifth-place Long Beach State also made the 64-team field.

The last time UH made the postseason, 2002-03, was the last of four straight WNIT appearances under Vince Goo.

Martin was all smiles about it. The team’s backbone (15.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 14 double-doubles) was in grade school then.

"It’s just great. The goal was to get to postseason play," Martin said. "Just being here two years and not getting it at all for two years, it’s just great to see that we’re finally getting rewarded for all our hard work during the season. We’re just happy that we’re involved in postseason."

That was why the defeat to eighth-place Fullerton was such a letdown for the team — UH’s confidence was at a level that it expected to make another tournament, something that could not be said of recent seasons.

But the pressure of the moment got to UH against the Titans. The Wahine were clearly off their game.

"I think the only way you get experience is by being there," Beeman said. "And for us to go now to the WNIT, the lights can’t be as bright. If they are, we’re a lot longer ways away than I’d hoped. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win the ballgame, and if we lose, it doesn’t mean it was because the lights were bright. Maybe San Diego’s a better team than us at this point. But I don’t think we show up and do against San Diego like we did against Fullerton."

Beeman said she had a feeling UH would be slotted against a California team, so she’d already started scouting likely opponents, including USD, which lost to Gonzaga in the WCC title game.

UH’s quadrant of the bracket is all West teams. Should UH get by USD, it will play a second-round opponent it already faced this season — Long Beach State or Utah, likely also on the road. UH swept LBSU home-and-home, and dropped a one-point decision to Utah at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I think they’re winnable games for us," Beeman said. "Just the fact that we’re in postseason play, which is what we wanted all along, and in one year, with these young ladies and how they’ve bought in and just been able to transform, I’m really proud of them and excited for this opportunity."