WAC Women Tournament tips off

Steve Carp

Monday, March 2, 1998 | 4:13 a.m.

There's one spot at the top, and so many to choose from to occupy it.

Decisions, decisions. That's what this week's WAC Women's Basketball Tournament comes down to.

Utah, the co-Mountain Division champion, appeared to be back on its game until it fell to Rice Friday. The Ute women, ranked 18th in the Associated Press poll, are the Mountain's top seed with a 21-4 record. Colorado State, which tied Utah for the top spot at 11-3 but lost the tiebreaker, sports a 22-4 mark.

Hawaii, which went 13-1 in Pacific Division play and is ranked 19th with a 24-2 record, is the top seed on the other side of the bracket. Rice, which beat Utah in a crossover game that didn't count in the league standings, is 19-7 overall and 11-3 in the division, along with Southern Methodist, which is the third seed. SMU is 20-6 overall.

Who gets to take a run at these teams will be decided today at the Thomas & Mack Center. The tournament kicks off with SMU facing Wyoming and Tulsa meeting New Mexico. The SMU-Wyoming winner plays Colorado State at noon Wednesday while the UNM-Tulsa survivor gets to play Hawaii at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The other first-round games tonight have Texas Christian meeting Texas-El Paso at 6 and Fresno State taking on Brigham Young at 8:30. The TCU-UTEP winner plays Rice at 6 p.m. Wednesday while Utah meets the BYU-Fresno winner at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Last year, the WAC sent only two schools, Utah and San Diego State, to the NCAAs. This time, it should get at least three, maybe even a fourth.