MORAGA, Calif. » The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine will have to wait until next season to flip the painful season-ending script they’ve followed three straight years.

Hawaii rallied from 18 points down in the second half to force overtime, but it suffered a 92-88 loss to Saint Mary’s in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at McKeon Pavilion on Friday night.

That makes it three straight WNIT one-and-dones on the road for Hawaii, which lost last year to Washington and the year before to San Diego.

"We won our conference, which we can’t forget," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. "We won 15 games in a row, which we can’t forget. So, definitely hurts to lose in the first round. You want to take steps. I think we did by getting to our conference championship game, but yeah, it definitely is not fun to get knocked out in the first round."

In her final game for Hawaii, senior captain Shawna-Lei Kuehu led a wild comeback that nearly ended in victory. She scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half and overtime. Sophomore guard Briana Harris scored 18 of her team-high 24 points after halftime.

"I hate losing," Kuehu said. "I hate losing more than I love winning. Everything hurts when you lose. But this team is a really good team. We’ve come so far and accomplished so much this season. They have a bright future to look forward to. And so they just got to keep growing off of this. I know it’s going to sting for a little bit, but that should make them a little bit more hungry. If anything we’ve accomplished more this season than the last two seasons. I know there’s things to be proud about and be happy about, but the loss still stings."

The Rainbow Wahine (23-9) entered the game averaging 14.2 turnovers, but they had 14 by halftime to just nine for Saint Mary’s and trailed 36-28. The Gaels (21-10) opened the second half on a 14-4 spurt, building a 50-32 lead with under 16 minutes left to play.

Hawaii decided enough was enough.

"What turned things around was we weren’t done, we weren’t done playing," Harris said. "At the end of the day for our seniors, we weren’t done playing with them. In the first half, it wasn’t us playing basketball. It was some other team. But in the second half we got it together and we all looked at each other. It was like, ‘This is right now,’ and we needed it right now. So that’s what sparked it."

With under six minutes left in the second half, Saint Mary’s still led by 11 points, but Kuehu made two free throws and Harris hit a 3-point shot, making it 67-61. Kuehu scored inside, and Sarah Toeaina, who had 12 points, made two free throws, cutting the Gaels lead to 67-65 with 3:09 left.

"We started to put our heads down and attack the rim, attack them, basically what they were doing to us," Kuehu said.

Hawaii finally pulled even at 75-75 with 3.6 seconds left in the second when Kuehu made two more free throws, forcing overtime.

"She’s an incredible player, and she is the face of this program," Beeman said of Kuehu. "She will continue to be the face of the program, even though she’s graduating and moving on. It’s what Shawna has done that’s put this program back on the map.

"She took the game over. She needed to leave it on the floor, and that’s what she did. She’s sad and disappointed and hurt right now, but she has no regrets."

The Rainbow Wahine got their first lead of the game at 77-76 with 3:42 left in overtime when Toeaina made a driving lay-in. But Saint Mary’s went 13-for-14 at the line in the final two minutes, regaining the lead then holding on.

Trailing 91-88 with time running out, Harris drove hard to the basket and tried to score and draw a foul, but she missed, and the Gaels rebounded with under six seconds left.

"She’s young, and we had some people that were open on the perimeter that she just didn’t quite see, going really hard to basket," Beeman said of Harris. "I think when she sees it on film she’ll know it probably should have been a kick-out. They did a good job of funneling her out to the baseline. It was a bad shot. But I have to take my hat off to her for wanting the ball in her hands as a sophomore, wanting the ball and wanting to go to the basket."

Beeman was not happy with the officiating. Saint Mary’s made 38 of 49 free throws to 18 of 23 for Hawaii. Kuehu, Harris, Toeaina, King, and Ashleigh Karaitiana all fouled out for the Hawaii. Lauren Nicholson and Carly Turner fouled out for Saint Mary’s.

"I’ve never been a part of a game like that before where there’s so much disparity," Beeman said.

Guard Shannon Mauldin also hurt Hawaii. She entered the game averaging 10.2 points and scored a career-high 32, most of them from close range. Nicholson added 23.

Kuehu had a hard time accepting the fact that she had just finished her final game for Hawaii.

"It is really strange," Kuehu said. "It’s the last time I’ll put on a UH uniform. Bittersweet, bittersweet. But I guess the way I’m leaving this team, I couldn’t have been happier. I’ve played with a bunch of good girls, especially in my senior class and the up-and-coming class. This program has a lot to look forward to. With the underclassmen coming up and the buy-in that they have into this program and the coaching staff, they’re going to be really good."

SAINT MARY’S 92, HAWAII 88, OT

Halftime — Saint Mary’s 36, Hawaii 28

3-point goals — Hawaii 8-14 (Harris 5-6, Karaitiana 2-4, Toeaina 1-1, Wimbley 0-1, King 0-2). Saint Mary’s 4-10 (Mauldin 2-4, Nicholson 1-2, Turner 1-2, Beck 0-1, Kaser 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 6 (Harris 2, King 2, Mason, Wimbley). Saint Mary’s 13 (Mauldin 3, Beck 2, McDonald 2, Nicholson 2, Turner 2, Hendricksen, McCoy). Turnovers — Hawaii 22 (Toeaina 4, Harris 3, Huff 3, Mason 3, King 2, Kuehu 2, Morris 2, Karaitiana, Sampton, Segovia). Saint Mary’s 17 (Nicholson 4, Beck 3, Mauldin 3, McCoy 2, McDonald 2, Arter, Hendricksen, Turner). Assists — Hawaii 18 (Kuehu 7, Wimbley 4, Huff 2, King 2, Harris, Karaitiana, Mason). Saint Mary’s 9 (Mauldin 2, McDonald 2, Beck, Hendricksen, Kaser, Rosenthal, Turner). Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Huff, Kuehu). Saint Mary’s 1 (Turner).Technical fouls — Hawaii none. Saint Mary’s none. Officials — Renee Robinson, Erick Thome, Tiffany fong. A — 279.