Hawaii’s step up in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament bracket will carry the Rainbow Wahine to the Bayou.

A day after claiming their second straight Big West Tournament title, the Rainbow Wahine gathered in a hotel meeting room in Henderson, Nev., to learn of their next destination — Baton Rouge, La., for a first-round matchup with LSU.

UH (18-14) was slotted as a No. 14 seed in the Greenville 2 region for the program’s eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. LSU (28-2), led by coach Kim Mulkey, is the No. 3 seed in the region.

“It was great to watch the girls’ reactions, the staffs’ reaction,” UH coach Laura Beeman said in a Zoom interview following the tournament selection show on Sunday. “I think everyone was happily surprised about the 14 seed. It’s always fun to see these kids get excited and see the benefit of their hard work.”

The time for Friday’s tipoff at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center had yet to be announced on Sunday. The winner faces the winner of a matchup between sixth-seeded Michigan and No. 11-seed UNLV next Sunday.

UH will make consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 1989 and ’90 seasons and moved up a line after being a No. 15 seed last year. The Wahine ended last season with a loss at second-seeded Baylor in the tournament’s opening round.

“We know what our preparation needs to look like in order to compere to our best ability,” said UH forward Kallin Spiller, who had 10 points and seven rebounds against Baylor. “We want to leave it all on that court so we’re going to be fighting hard this week, remembering our experiences at Baylor last year to bring our best basketball to Baton Rouge.”

Last year, the team returned to Manoa following the Big West Tournament before making the trip to Waco, Texas. This time, they remained on the continent, and while travel arrangements were still pending, Beeman said she hoped the team would be able to arrive in Baton Rouge on Tuesday.

“We need to be ready, we need to be locked in and ready to go, and I want them to be rested and the travel to be as easy as possible,” Beeman said.

The Wahine extended their season by rallying from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to edge UC Santa Barbara 61-59 in the Big West Tournament championship game on Saturday at the Dollar Loan Center behind Daejah Phillips’ 11 fourth-quarter points, including the go-ahead layup with 3.4 seconds left.

“I think the experience helped us a lot (Saturday) night,” Beeman said. “They stayed very composed and never gave up. … They were rock stars last night.

“I think (last year’s NCAA) experience is going to be huge. It’s going to be a sold out show, we know that. I think that’s great for our kids to play in front of another big crowd. The bigger thing is what this does for the future of this program with what we have returning. Being a 14 seed, it puts us in great position for next year.”

LSU was ranked ninth in the final Associated Press poll of the regular season and finished second in the Southeastern Conference at 15-1, trailing only South Carolina, the NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed. LSU fell to Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

Forward Angel Reese, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, ranks fifth nationally with 23.4 points per game and second with 15.5 rebounds. Mulkey won three national championships at Baylor before taking over at LSU last season.

“We’re going to have to execute, we’re going to have to play out of our minds because we know how good LSU is. But that’s what this team has done all year long,” Beeman said.

Friday’s game is a rematch of sorts between the schools. UH and LSU met in the first round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament in December with the Tigers knocking off the Rainbow Wahine, who were led by middle blocker and Baton Rouge product Amber Igiede.

“I reached out to my friend (outside hitter Chandler Cowell), and said, ‘hey we have the same matchup,’” Spiller said. “It’ll be exciting and I’ll definitely reach out to Amber for tips about Louisiana because I know she’s the expert.”