Western Kentucky Guide Is Prophetic--Eventually

Western Kentucky put “L.A. or bust!” on its media guide before the season, then had to live with it when the Hilltoppers had a 4-4 record. The Final Four at the Sports Arena this weekend suddenly seemed a world away.

“Several times this year, I thought bust was what it was going to be,” Coach Paul Sanderford said.

The women’s basketball team that is the pride of Bowling Green, Ky., had its eyes on Los Angeles when it reached the Mideast Regional, but two mountains stood in the way: Tennessee, the defending national champion, and Maryland, which had been No. 1 in the nation for four weeks this season.

The Hilltoppers fell behind Tennessee by 10 points in the second half of theirregional semifinal game last week. They trailed Maryland by 11 points in the final.

But they won both games, running their record to 24-7, and will play Southwest Missouri State in a semifinal Saturday. Western Kentucky beat two of the strongest contenders for the NCAA title, but it was difficult to believe the Hilltoppers had the better team.

Tennessee and Maryland were beaten by a deep--if not supremely talented--team; and by a coach who screams like a maniac on the sidelines, but keeps his players chuckling and his opponents guessing.

They were beaten by guard Renee Westmoreland, a good shooter who has been bad during the tournament, sinking only 27% of her shots. But she has done her part. She was one for nine when she made the three-pointer that sank Tennessee, and her four free throws in the final 34 seconds sealed the victory over Maryland.

They were beaten by Paulette Monroe, a 6-foot-4 center who struggled with foul trouble in both games but made big plays against Maryland; by Debbie Scott, a transfer forward from Tennessee who does the little things and has a good baseline jump shot; by Liesa Lang, a power-rebounding forward whose brother Jarvis Lang starred at North Carolina Charlotte last season, and by a deep bench.

Most of all, they were beaten by Kim Pehlke, a determined, 5-7 shooter whose occasionally flashy passes sometimes catch even her teammates by surprise. She averaged 11.9 points before the NCAA tournament. In the three games since, any one of which could have marked the end of the senior’s career, Pehlke has averaged 22.7 points and shot 59% from the field.

Behind by 10 points against Tennessee, Pehlke took over, scoring 21 points in the second half.

“She has a shooter’s intellect,” Sanderford said. “She might miss five in a row, but she’s not going to hesitate to shoot again. She’s going to put it up. We preach that you should never evaluate yourself till you take your shoes off. You might go zero for eight the first half, then eight for eight the second. That’s 50%. That’s a pretty good game. Kim Pehlke might be three for 30, but she thinks the 31st shot is going in. I think so, too.”

Pehlke, who has added a driving scoop shot to her game, is a better player than when she arrived at Western Kentucky from Louisville’s Doss High, where she had scored more than 2,000 points and was named “Miss Kentucky Basketball” as the state’s top player.

She weighed 157 pounds as a freshman; now at 138 or so, she is quicker and drives better. She has always been a shooter.

“Ever since I started playing, people would say, ‘Look, she’s got good form. That little girl has a nice jump shot,’ ” she said.

At Western Kentucky, where the coaches conduct individual workouts twice a week, she has extended her range to NBA three-point distance. She makes three shots from the college line, then steps back, six inches or so at a time, until she’s out of range.

The passing is a result of hours alone, throwing a ball against the bricks of her parents’ home. Pehlke would take chalk and draw a human-sized rectangle on the side of the house, then add a square target for the chest and hands.

“I’d try passing into that square one-handed, then the same thing with the left hand, then behind the back,” she said. “I love the fast-break situations, throwing a fancy pass. It kind of comes naturally.”

Even when her teammates aren’t expecting it.

“I’ve hit a lot of people in the face,” she said.

Some people are surprised to see Western Kentucky in the Final Four. Few recall that Sanderford’s teams reached the Final Four in ’85 and ’86. And few have given enough credence to this team’s bold preseason cry of “L.A. or bust!”

“It was going out on a limb,” Pehlke said. “That’s what everybody should strive for.”