COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT : Western Kentucky Season to Have Photo Finish : Mideast Regional: Preseason picture had sign reading “L.A. or bust.” The Hilltoppers beat Maryland to reach the Final Four.

Western Kentucky was bold enough to dream, posing for a preseason photograph with a bus that carried an “L.A. or bust!” sign and completing the picture by superimposing the “Hollywood” sign on a distant Kentucky hillside.

After completing a sweep of the Mideast Regional’s top two seeded teams with a 75-70 come-from-behind victory over second-seeded Maryland at Mackey Arena Saturday, the fourth-seeded Hilltoppers’ dreams will come true.

Western Kentucky (26-7) upset top-seeded and defending national champion Tennessee in the regional semifinals and will play Midwest champion Southwest Missouri State in the Final Four semifinals Saturday in the Sports Arena.

“I know I don’t realize yet what we’ve done,” said Coach Paul Sanderford, who took Western Kentucky to the Final Four in 1985 and ’86. “I don’t think I’ll realize it until we get to Los Angeles next week.”

Then he laughed at the recollection of what he had said about the preseason photo.

“We haven’t talked about the Final Four much,” Sanderford said earlier in the tournament. “We just put it on our media guide.”

Maryland (25-6), which loses only one senior and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for four weeks, took an 11-point lead midway through the first half.

But with Maryland Coach Chris Weller resting center Jessie Hicks after she committed her second foul, Western Kentucky climbed back into the game and trailed by only two at halftime.

The Hilltoppers took their first lead 3 1/2 minutes into the second half, 48-47, when Paulette Monroe scored on an offensive rebound after two missed shots. Three-point goals by Kim Pehlke and Renee Westmoreland helped sustain their surge.

“They played a great game,” Weller said. “They’re tough on the boards, and they’re outstanding competitors.”

Maryland had an advantage inside physically, but Western Kentucky went to a sagging defense and cut off easy passes into the key.

Western Kentucky, led by Pehlke’s 17 points and Monroe’s 15, took a 70-68 lead with 1:55 left on a follow shot by Liesa Lang.

Two free throws by Westmoreland made the lead four points with about 30 seconds to play, and then Sanderford made a bold move, throwing a risky three-quarter-court trap defense at Maryland.

It could have backfired.

“Big deal,” Sanderford said. “They shoot a layup and we’re up two. You’ve got to gamble. I think as coaches, people get too conservative.”

Instead, it paid off when Limor Mizrachi threw the ball away. Western Kentucky’s Debbie Houk made the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity, and then Lang grabbed an offensive rebound on the miss and Westmoreland made two more free throws.

Sanderford says his team is on a roll. Pehlke doesn’t want it to stop.

“Since the NCAAs started, we wanted to beat (first-round opponent) Alabama. Then we had Tennessee, and we said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Then we decided we can’t let down, let’s go ahead and win the region. Now it’s like, let’s go ahead and win it all.”