Tuesday, March 4, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Brigham Young's surprise of Wyoming in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament is only the first in what the Cougars hope is a series of surprises this week.
BYU shot 63 percent in the second half of its 70-60 upset of the Cowgirls Monday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, setting up a quarterfinal meeting with the consensus tournament favorite, Mountain Division champion Utah.
"I think we are going to surprise them in how much we have improved since our last meeting," BYU junior Kari Gallup said. "We are so much more improved now than the last time we met them. It will be a great game."
The Cougars and Utes hook up at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals. BYU (11-17) already has two losses to Utah, by an average of 11.5 points.
BYU will have to bottle Monday's effort to continue any further.
Its defense forced Wyoming into 29 turnovers, and was especially tough on Cowgirls junior guard Courtney Stapp, Wyoming's leading scorer. Stapp was a dismal 3 of 17 from the field and committed eight turnovers. She had nine points, six less than her average.
"We really wanted to celebrate this one," BYU coach Soni Adams said. "This is a big win for us. It is nice for our kids to pull out a win like this, in this fashion, against a team as good as Wyoming."
Gallup and senior Renae Hansen led BYU with 13 points. Jessica Cross had 12 to pace Wyoming (17-11).
Adams, in her third season as the Cougars' head coach, called Monday's victory "the biggest win for me since I have been here."
* SOUTHERN METHODIST 76, SAN JOSE STATE 52: Slovakia native Kveta Truchlikova came off the bench and led the Mustangs (18-10) with 16 points, including 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from the 3-point line. SMU earned a matchup with Colorado State at 8:30 Wednesday night in the quarterfinals. SMU was better from beyond the arc (47.6 percent, 10 of 21) than it was inside (45.2 percent). The Mustangs dominated most of the way, leading by as many as 34 points during the second half. "I'm pleased with the win, but not pleased with our performance," SMU coach Rhonda Rompola said. "We did not jell as well as we could and certain players really did not play as well as they are capable of. I just hope we are saving it all up for Wednesday." Kari Steele led the Spartans (10-18) with 22 points.
* HAWAII 67, TEXAS CHRISTIAN 52: The Rainbow Wahine (20-7) started slowly, but picked up steam along the way, shooting 63 percent after halftime to break open a tie game. Hawaii, the Pacific Division's third seed, plays Rice, the Mountain Division's second seed, at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. "As a team, we just did a much better job of finishing in the second half," said senior Keendis Leeburg, a first-team all-WAC player who scored a career-high 24 points for Hawaii. Emma Wilson led TCU (13-14) with 16 points. Fellow sophomore Jennifer Hickman added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
* NEW MEXICO 70, FRESNO STATE 59: Junior guard Abby Garchek scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, sending the Lobos (18-9) into the quarterfinals. New Mexico plays Pacific Division champion San Diego State (20-6) at 3 p.m. Wednesday. "I felt in the second half that we needed to penetrate ... to create more opportunities since they were playing so aggressively on defense," Garchek said. New Mexico used an 11-1 run in the second half to assume control, and also took advantage inside when 6-foot-4 junior center Zanete Law got into foul trouble for Fresno State (14-13). With those two out, UNM's inside people, 6-3 junior Anita Vuletic (15, 8) and 6-2 sophomore Katie Kern (10, 12), combined for 25 points and 20 rebounds.
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