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Monday, March 6, 2000

Wahine seeded
No. 2 in WAC
Tournament

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Two defining spurts Saturday night helped the University of Hawaii women's basketball team secure the No. 2 seed in this week's Western Athletic Conference tournament in Fresno, Calif.

Hawaii (11-3 WAC, 19-7 overall) plays Texas-El Paso (2-11, 5-20) in the first round Wednesday.

"Our main goal now is to win the WAC because our ultimate goal is to make the NCAAs. And, in order to do that, we have to play well in the WAC," said Crystal Lee.

Before the game against Fresno State began, the Wahine knew Rice had been upset by Texas Christian, giving them a clear shot at second place.

All Hawaii had to do to avoid playing FSU in the tournament's first round was beat the Bulldogs before 2,401 Senior Night fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"We had some very mediocre minutes tonight," Hawaii head coach Vince Goo said. "But basketball is a game of surges and boy we played excellent in stretches.

"The intensity and level of efficiency was higher than at any time this year."

A 23-9 run to close out the first half a 21-6 spurt in the second half powered UH to the 84-65 victory.

The Wahine's next task is to use the new-found energy and make a run at the WAC championship.

"We have a new outlook on our game," said Kylie Galloway who scored 21 points. "We wanted to push it tonight, get up on defense more and that worked. We have a lot to be positive about going into Wednesday's game."

UH beat UTEP, 91-55, in Honolulu, and 65-36 in El Paso.

WAC women

	Conference	Overall
	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.
So. Methodist	12	2	.857	19	7	.731
Hawaii	11	3	.769	19	7	.731
Rice	10	4	.714	18	9	.667
Tulsa	9	5	.643	13	14	.481
Texas Christian	7	7	.500	16	13	.552
Fresno State	4	10	.286	11	17	.393
Texas-El Paso	2	12	.143	5	21	.192
San Jose State	1	13	.071	3	23	.115

Saturday's results

Hawaii, 84, Fresno State 65
Southern Methodist 58, Tulsa 45
Texas Christian 63, Rice 62

WAC tournament

Wednesday's first round games
Hawaii vs. Texas-El Paso
Rice vs. Fresno State
Southern Methodist vs. San Jose State
Tulsa vs. Texas Christian

Friday's quarterfinal round games
Hawaii-UTEP winner vs. Fresno State-Rice winner
SMU-San Jose State winner vs. TCU-Tulsa winner

Saturday's championship game
Friday's winners

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http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu