The physical journey continues for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team.

For coach Laura Beeman, this week’s trip to the Bay Area to take on Saint Mary’s in the WNIT doubles as a life journey for this plucky group. UH is the only team in the consolation tournament’s field of 64 with a losing record.

“To see a team go through all the adversity and see a team not quit, is probably one of the lessons that you want to instill within your young ladies,” Beeman said prior to the team’s departure from behind the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday. “Because that’s a life thing, not just a basketball thing. Life gets hard, and it’s easy to just walk away from a job, or a relationship, or a situation that doesn’t go your way, versus just pounding through it.”

The first-round game is 4 p.m. Friday at McKeon Pavilion.

UH (15-16), which lost a bunch of close games in November and a key player in February, embraced its underdog status in its run of four victories to reach the Big West tournament championship game. The enormity of the moment seemed to get to the Rainbow Wahine late in a 58-50 loss to UC Davis in the title game on Saturday, as the Aggies rallied from down 17 points in the second half.

Moments later, they were apprised of the opportunity to keep playing.

“It was bittersweet. Not a good taste in your mouth when you come close to getting a ring like that, and then you don’t,” senior point guard Tia Kanoa said. “But there is a definite excitement in the fact that we get to keep playing together, get to keep learning and growing and represent Hawaii.”

Saint Mary’s (20-11) is well versed in the 64-team WNIT; the Gaels are making their 10th straight appearance. That included a 92-88 overtime win over UH in the 2015 opening round, the last time the Wahine were in the consolation postseason tournament.

The Gaels, who sport four Australians to UH’s two (Courtney Middap and Amy Atwell), have a height advantage across the board.

“They’re pretty tall,” said Middap, who’s second to Leah Salanoa (8.7 ppg) in team scoring at 8.4 per game. “They’ve got a few Aussies on there, so I do know a few of them. They just know how to read well. They have a lot of read-and-react situations. A lot of pass-and-cuts. It’s going to be a situation where we’re going to have to be locked in for 40 minutes to get the job done.”

Forwards Sydney Raggio (12.8 ppg) and Megan McKay (12.6) lead a balanced attack. They are surrounded by four shooters in the neighborhood of 40 percent on 3s. SMC shoots the long ball at an elite 37 percent as a team, to UH’s 33.4.

The hosts also have 6-foot-1 junior forward Tyra Moe, a 2016 Punahou graduate who’s averaged 2.1 points while playing in all 31 Gaels games this season.

UH has lost its last six WNIT appearances, all on the road, going back to a 15-point defeat at New Mexico in the 2001 semifinals (Vince Goo’s Wahine won three WNIT games at home to get to that point).

But this group knows it can succeed in hostile territory; it picked up big wins at UC Riverside and at Cal State Northridge, setting the stage for its Big West finals appearance.

“We have the right mind-set that we’re in the WNIT, this is where we want to be since we are here, and give it the energy and focus that we gave those road games from Riverside, Northridge, into the tournament,” she said.

The winner of Friday’s game will face Pepperdine, which won at Cal Baptist on Wednesday.

WAHINE BASKETBALL WNIT

Friday, 4 p.m., at McKeon Pavilion, Moraga, Calif.

Hawaii (15-16) at Saint Mary’s (20-11)

TV: None

Radio: KHKA, 1500-AM

Video streaming: WCCSports.com