Before Friday’s NCAA Tournament game, it was easy to forget that eight of the 14 players on the University of Hawaii roster were classified as freshmen — and that three were starters.

Rainbow Wahine fans received a stark reminder of it, though, when perennial powerhouse Baylor did what No. 2 seeds do to No. 15 seeds, especially in the women’s tourney.

They crush them.

This is a normal occurrence. Since the women’s field expanded to 64 teams in 1994, never has a 15 seed beaten a 2.

None of the four mismatches of those seeds this year were close, as usual. UConn, Iowa and Texas beat Mercer, Illinois State and Fairfield by 45, 40 and 28 points — with final scores similar to Baylor’s 89-49 over Hawaii.

Here’s the difference: At halftime, there was no reason to doubt that the Huskies, Hawkeyes and Longhorns — leading by 21, 20 and 14 — would routinely take care of business for the final 20 minutes and advance to the next round.

However, in the case of the Bears and ’Bows, the lead was just 38-29 at the break. And, at the pace UH star Amy Atwell was making 3-point shots and plays, a margin of nine was less than comfortable for Baylor, its Ferrell Center fans, and its coach, Nicki Collen.

Atwell had scored 20 of Hawaii’s first-half points. Other than minor contributions from fellow graduate player Kallin Spiller and off-the-bench freshman Nnenna Orji, Atwell had almost no help.

In a battle of conference players of the year, during the first half Atwell outplayed NaLyssa Smith, Baylor’s two-time All-American who scored just four points while attempting to check her.

Then came the third quarter, in which the Wahine were offered none.

Collen ordered a key adjustment of putting smaller, quicker players on Atwell. This kept the 6-foot-4 Smith closer to the basket on defense, and allowed her more energy for offense. She responded with 17 second-half points, and finished with a game-high 14 rebounds.

When you’re Batman it helps to have a Robin, and Smith had about five or six.

The switch let Baylor play at the speed for which it is suited — fast. And, with every transition layup and every UH airball, the Bears regained the knowledge that they were supposed to win by at least 20.

The hosts outscored the guests 34-8 in the third quarter, and that was that. Not quite as brutal as the 20-0 UConn put on Mercer in the first 10 minutes after their halftime, but it did the job.

Atwell struggled to score nine points in the second half. It was much tougher going against a rotation of guards challenging every shot. This did leave other players open, but the rest of the Wahine shot 8-of-52 from the floor; if you’re a baseball fan, you know that’s below the Mendoza Line, and whatever you’re a fan of, you know it’s not good.

As it came to a close — or even earlier — could anyone who follows UH not wonder what this team will be capable of next season, minus one of the program’s all-time greats?

Is there any way the Wahine can come close to the 20-10 record they posted this season, on their way to capturing both the Big West regular-season and tournament titles?

Will it be like what happened after 2016, the last time Hawaii went to the dance, finishing at 21-11 following a 78-59 loss at UCLA? That set the stage for back-to-back 12-18 campaigns.

Will NCAA Tournament appearances continue to be one-off rarities, followed by long periods of rebuilding?

Not according to Atwell, who never forgot the youthfulness of her teammates, compared to the ’16 team that lost five seniors.

“This starts the foundation,” she said. “It’s for the next four years. They have an unbelievable ceiling.”

Obviously, Atwell — who should be getting some calls from the WNBA now — leaves a huge void that one player alone cannot fill. That will be so even in the 99 percent of games where Hawaii is not 15-seed vs. 2-seed.

It is much more likely that those three freshman starters — Daejah Phillips, Kelsie Imai and Olivia Davies — will all hit double-figures in scoring in a game together before they combine for four points on 2-of-24 shooting again.

Orji looked like the only one of the freshmen ready for the bright lights Friday. But coach Laura Beeman is counting on all of the young players to navigate that tricky trail of taking what’s useful and discarding the rest from an experience like that.

“I hope that they will reflect on what it took to get here,” she said postgame. “Sustainability now becomes the issue. … The future’s bright. But there has to be action behind that desire.”

And she has a question they can ask themselves on those inevitable days when the effort to improve seems like too much of a chore.

“Do you remember that third period?”