Monday, March 2, 1998
After a bye, the Wahine will play
By Al Chase
Tulsa or New Mexico in the
WAC quarterfinals
Star-BulletinLAS VEGAS -- If the results of the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament go according to Hoyle, then Hawaii and Utah will play for the championship Saturday.
Unfortunately, Hoyle did not write the rules that govern March Madness. In fact, the only rule applicable in March is to expect the unexpected.
The University of Hawaii women's basketball team hopes that rule does not come into play this week.
The eighth annual WAC women's title chase began today at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center with four first-round games (highest team seeded first): Southern Methodist (20-6) vs. Wyoming (10-16); Tulsa (9-17) vs. New Mexico (22-6), Texas-El Paso (15-10) vs. Texas Christian (13-14); and Fresno State (12-15) vs. Brigham Young (13-13).
The 16th ranked Wahine (24-2) and Rice (19-7) from the Pacific Division and No. 18 Utah (21-4) and Colorado State (22-4) from the Mountain Division have first-round byes.
Hawaii plays the Tulsa-UNM winner in a quarterfinal game Wednesday. The Lobos have won four of their last five games and the Golden Hurricane have lost six of their last seven.
The other quarterfinal in the Hawaii bracket has CSU playing the SMU-Wyoming winner. The Mustangs have won five of their last six, losing only to the Wahine, and the Cowgirls have dropped three of their last five.
Based on the recent results and the tournament matchups, UH head coach Vince Goo and his assistants have been spending a lot of time breaking down New Mexico and Colorado State game film. Goo said the Wahine probably will have to beat UNM (Mountain Division No. 4 seed) and CSU (Mountain Division No. 2 seed) to reach the championship.
"That's a pretty tough road. And we also could face SMU," Goo said. "Either way, we've got to play some basketball."
If SMU is not in the mix, the Wahine will play opponents for the first time this season. Getting motivated for such a matchup shouldn't be a problem. However, what if Tulsa upsets UNM?
"If you play a team from your own division, you want to play someone you went 0-2 or 1-1 during the regular season, not 2-0," Goo said.
For the Wahine, only Rice fits that description as UH swept everyone else.
The Owls could be the roadblock that keeps Utah, which lost to San Diego State in last year's championship, out of this year's final. Rice is on a five-game winning streak, best of any team here. It beat Utah at home last Friday and would meet the Utes in the semifinals barring upsets.
In the 1997 tournament, the Wahine defeated TCU in the first round, edged Rice in the quarterfinals, then ran out of gas, according to Goo, to SDSU in the semifinals.
Although the season-ending road trip was longer this year and has been tough, Goo says the stay at the California hotel, where players could eat Hawaiian food, and having the first-round bye should help.
"We're OK on getting ready for New Mexico and Colorado State. If UNM doesn't get by Tulsa, I think we're prepared," Goo said.
NO HURRY: The Wahine had Friday off, so it wasn't until Saturday that the coaches told them about the All-WAC selections.
WAC NOTES: Defending champion San Diego State did not qualify for this year's tournament. Utah's Julie Krommenhoek and CSU's Becky Hammon were tournament MVPs as freshmen in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Utah has been in five of the last seven championship games, winning in 1991 and 1995.
WAC women
Today: First round: SMU vs. Wyoming, 10 a.m.; New Mexico vs. Tulsa, 12:30 p.m.; Texas-El Paso vs. TCU, 4 p.m.; Fresno State vs. BYU, 6:30 p.m.
1997-98 Wahine Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
