Frohlich, Lady Rebels looking for support in tournament

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 10:39 a.m.

Wednesday

Noon -- No. 3 New Mexico (17-11, 8-6) vs. No. 6 San Diego State (13-14, 5-9).

2:30 p.m. -- No. 2 Colorado State (21-6, 10-4) vs. No. 7 Wyoming (11-16, 3-11).

6 p.m. -- No. 4 BYU (16-11, 8-6) vs. No. 5 UNLV (18-8, 8-6).

8:30 p.m. -- No. 1 Utah (25-2, 14-0) vs. No. 8 Air Force (3-24, 0-14).

Friday

Noon -- New Mexico-San Diego State winner vs. Colorado State-Wyoming winner.

2:30 p.m. -- BYU-UNLV winner vs. Utah-Air Force winner.

Saturday

9:30 p.m. -- Championship game (ESPN 2).

Linda Frohlich is hoping to turn a negative into a positive when it comes to UNLV basketball this week.

Sure, UNLV's men's team is ineligible to participate in the Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center thanks to a wide array of NCAA violations suffered during ex-coach Bill Bayno's tenure. But what about Regina Miller's Lady Rebels?

"I hope the fans in this town step up and support us this week," Frohlich, who garnered her second straight Mountain West Player of the Year Award on Monday, said. "I don't know if they will or not. But with the men not playing, hopefully the town will get behind us."

Miller seconds that thought.

"We really are hoping the fans come out and support us," she said. "They could be like a sixth man for us in this tournament."

It's not like the Lady Rebels aren't producing a good product, either.

UNLV (18-8, 8-6), despite losing star 6-6 center Petra Glaser midway through Mountain West play to a fractured tibia bone in her left leg, still managed to finish in a three-way tie for third place with New Mexico (17-11, 8-6) and BYU (16-11, 8-6). But the Lady Rebels, who open MWC tourney play on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against the Cougars, were seeded fifth because of conference tie-breaking rules.

The 6-3 Frohlich led the MWC in scoring (19.6 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg) for the second straight year despite playing part of the campaign with a fractured thumb. She shared the Player of the Year Award this season with Utah senior forward Amy Ewert who helped lead the Utes to a perfect 14-0 conference mark and No. 13 national ranking.

Frohlich and Ewert could hook up in Friday afternoon's 2:30 p.m. semifinal if the Rebels can win their opener against the Cougars and the Utes get by No. 8 seed Air Force (3-24, 0-14) as expected.

For UNLV, that's a mighty big "if."

UNLV and the Cougars split their two games during Mountain West play. The Lady Rebels with a healthy Glaser defeated the Cougars, 61-50, on Jan. 13 but lost at BYU, 89-83, on Feb. 8 without Glaser.

"If we don't get past BYU, there's no need to worry about playing a team like Utah," Miller said. "I think our team is playing well right now. But it's a whole new season for us now."

Glaser has begun shooting drills this week and Miller said she is hopeful that she'll dress for the tournament. However, she likely won't be ready to play until postseason competition.

With a strong showing in the MWC tourney that just might end up being the NCAA Tournament. The MWC is currently rated No. 7 in conference RPI rankings. Last year the conference was rated 12th and got two teams into March Madness.

"It's a tougher conference this year according to the RPI, so hopefully they'll take three teams instead of two this year," Miller said. "And hopefully we can play well enough this week to be one of those three teams."