There were growing pains for sure this weekend.

But Laura Beeman’s takeaway from the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team’s 67-51 loss to second-ranked South Carolina on Sunday was the growth she saw in the Rainbow Wahine from one afternoon to the next.

“What I said (in the locker room) and what I mean from the bottom of my heart is we got better, and that was our goal this tournament,” Beeman said.

“Sure, you’re disappointed when you lose. You’re disappointed when you put that much on the floor and it should have been a tighter ballgame. We’re all going to take a little time to reflect, but we got better.”

Coming off a 75-49 drubbing against No. 16 Arizona State on Saturday, the Rainbow Wahine (4-3) kept the Gamecocks (7-0) within sight before South Carolina broke away with an 11-3 run midway through the third quarter and maintained a double-digit lead in the fourth to secure the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Shootout title before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 956.

Tournament MVP A’ja Wilson, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, led four South Carolina players in double figures with 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting and All-American Tiffany Mitchell hit two 3-pointers in a 14-point performance.

Guard Bianca Cuevas scored nine of her 13 points in the second half and Khadijah Sessions finished with 11 points, four assists and four steals. Sessions closed the third quarter by banking in a 3-pointer from just inside of halfcourt at the buzzer to stretch the lead to 16.

Earlier in the period, the guard tandem fueled the Gamecocks’ breakaway with two steals each leading to transition scores after UH closed to 34-29 at the 5-minute mark.

“We changed up our defense, we went to a zone and made them think a little bit and once you’ve got a steal or two under your belt it gave us a lot of energy to continue to play on that side of the ball,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said.

UH stayed on its average with 20 turnovers and South Carolina scored 23 points off of takeaways. Free-throw shooting also remained a sore spot for UH, which went 8-for-18 from the line.

“I think it’s mental. I think people are over-thinking their shot rather than just shooting the ball,” said UH senior Ashleigh Karaitiana, who finished with 10 points and hit two 3-pointers.

Fellow senior Destiny King led the Wahine with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Megan Huff contributed 13 points and was named to the all-tournament team.

Beeman noted that the Wahine outrebounded South Carolina, which features a formidable front line led by Wilson, 33-30 and limited the Gamecocks to nine offensive boards.

“We knew they were going to be physical and it was not letting them get the ball, not letting them get second chance rebounds and executing,” Huff said.

South Carolina’s post players dealt with foul trouble for much of the game with Wilson able to stay on the floor long enough to lead the Gamecocks before fouling out.

“We wanted to continue to go inside, we wanted to continue to put them on our backs when we were rebounding and we did,” Beeman said.

“We knew if we stayed with our skill set and our foundation and stayed fundamental we’d get them in foul trouble. That worked but then we didn’t hit free throws so that was kind of a catch 22.”

Beeman said the Wahine will take a day off following their three-day run before preparing for another challenging week in the Tom Weston Invitational in Laie. UH plays BYU on Thursday and take on No. 10 Texas A&M on Friday.

NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 67, HAWAII 51

GAMECOCKS (7-0)

RAINBOW WAHINE (4-3)

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

Halftime — South Carolina 29, Hawaii 22

3-points goals — South Carolina 4-14 (Mitchell 2-5, Sessions 1-2, Cuevas 1-3, Colley 0-1, Roy 0-1, Dozier 0-2). Hawaii 5-18 (King 2-3, Karaitiana 2-6, Huff 1-3, Salanoa 0-1, Harris 0-2, Toeaina 0-3). Steals — South Carolina 9 (Sessions 4, Cuevas 2, Colley, Dozier, Roy). Hawaii 3 (King 2, Karaitiana). Blocked shots — South Carolina 5 (Coates 3, Wilson 2). Hawaii 3 (Morris 2, Adolpho). Turnovers — South Carolina 14 (Mitchell 3, Coates 2, Cuevas 2, Colley, Dozier, Imovbioh, Sessions, White, Wilson, TEAM). Hawaii 20 (King 5, Toeaina 3, Adolpho 2, Harris 2, Huff 2, Karaitiana 2, Morris 2, Salanoa 2). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Skelly Wingard, Vicftor Dunomes, Mason Souza. A—956.