COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT : Western Kentucky Discovers Magic in a Bottle : First semifinal: Hilltoppers, who will play Southwest Missouri State, beat Tennessee and Maryland to advance.

Western Kentucky Coach Paul Sanderford was asked about his team’s chances of winning a national championship this weekend.

“I have a friend Steve, from North Carolina. He was walking down the street the other day and picked up a bottle. He rubbed the bottle and a genie appeared, and the genie said, ‘Steve, I’ll give you one gigantic wish.’ And he thought for a second and then said, I want world peace. I want President Bush to have world peace.’

“The genie scratched his head. He really couldn’t believe that--it was such a difficult wish. The genie thought for a minute and then said, ‘If you could, please come up with a smaller wish in case I can’t fulfill your first wish.’ Steve said, ‘Well I’ve got a friend who’s playing for the national championship this weekend in Los Angeles and I want him to win the national championship.’ And the genie looked back at him and said, ‘Let’s talk world peace.’ ”

That story might have been appropriate earlier this season, when the Hilltoppers were 4-4, but it doesn’t appear so anymore.

True, the Hilltoppers only are ranked No. 15, but consider what they have done to get to the Final Four at the Sports Arena, where they will open play at 9:30 this morning against No. 10 Southwest Missouri State, another team that overcame long odds to get here:

Having been sent to perhaps the toughest regional in the NCAA tournament, the Mideast, Western Kentucky upset defending NCAA champion Tennessee, then beat Maryland, which was ranked No. 1 for four weeks during the regular season.

In those games, Western Kentucky gave up only one field goal in the final 3 minutes 55 seconds against Tennessee, and held Maryland to one basket in the final 5:24.

During the Maryland game, the Hilltoppers climbed back from an 11-point deficit and pulled out a 75-70 victory, winning their eighth consecutive game and advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.

“Every team has its ups and downs, kind of like a roller coaster,” junior guard Renee Westmoreland said. “I just thank God that we had our downs earlier and that now we’re playing our best basketball.”

But will it be good enough to get past Southwest Missouri State, which is a surprising 31-2?

The Bears, riding a 21-game winning streak, have been running their opponents ragged with their high-pressure basketball.

There was UCLA in the semifinals of the Midwest Regional at Boulder, Colo. The Bruins were seeded No. 5, the Bears No. 8, but UCLA never knew what hit them and lost, 83-57. There was Mississippi, ranked No. 5 in the country. The Rebels were worn down and taken out, 94-71. During that game, the Bears shot almost 62%.

Coach Cheryl Burnett’s philosophy has been to apply constant pressure on the ball “to disrupt the offense of the other team.”

Said point guard Amy Nelson: “We have our defensive style and we have our offensive style and it doesn’t make a difference who we’re playing. . . . We don’t change our style. Our style is what got us here.”

Burnett added: “In the past, we’ve been able to out-run and out-work (opponents) because we simply had more players that we felt we could use to our advantage.”

The Bears have nine players averaging 13 minutes or more and six averaging 22 or more. Four average in double figures, with Melody Howard, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard, leading the way with nearly 15 points per game.

Fortunately for Sanderford, the Hilltoppers are deeper than any of the Bears’ previous tournament opponents--they have seven players averaging 16 minutes or more--and have a height advantage, with 6-4 center Paulette Monroe and 6-1 Debbie Scott working inside. Southwest Missouri State has only one starter who is 6 feet, forward Tonya Baucom.

But guard Kim Pehlke has been effective lately from the outside, leading the Hilltoppers against Tennessee and Maryland with 28 and 17 points, respectively.

“I’m not sure how much of an advantage our height will be,” Sanderford said. “Southwest (Missouri State) changes people so quick that matching up becomes a problem.

“We just want the opportunity to stay in the game. I do not think Southwest Missouri State is going to be able to wear us down. They might. I might be surprised.”