COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR : After Foul Play, Hilltoppers Win

Women’s college basketball was being showcased in Los Angeles on Saturday, and if you happened to be watching the Final Four semifinal between Western Kentucky and Southwest Missouri State, you know what you saw.

If you didn’t tune in, either at the Sports Arena or on television, you missed plenty.

Plenty of pushing, shoving, grabbing and, subsequently, whistle-blowing and free-throw shooting in what had to be one of the hardest-fought, longest drawn-out women’s basketball games ever, a game won by Western Kentucky, 84-72.

The Hilltoppers, ranked No. 15 in the country, will play No. 3 Stanford for the national championship today at 1:05 p.m.

“It was a war out there,” Western Kentucky Coach Paul Sanderford said. “You can’t play pretty when you get that physical.”

The only thing pretty about the game was the play of Hilltopper guard Kim Pehlke, whose 22 second-half points--including 11 free throws--kept Southwest Missouri at bay.

The game, which lasted 2 hours 35 minutes, pitted two teams whose philosophy was to apply constant pressure on the ball and to disrupt the offense of the other.

Western Kentucky (27-7), with more size and adequate depth, was just better at it.

“They had better athletes, bigger athletes, and we were more out of our offense than we ever were all year,” Southwest Missouri Coach Cheryl Burnett said. The Bears finished the season with a 31-3 record.

The game was one of attrition.

Seven players fouled out, a semifinal record. Four players from Western Kentucky fouled out, another record.

Western Kentucky committed 32 fouls, also a record. Southwest Missouri committed 31 fouls, tying a record.

Twenty-four of the Hilltoppers’ final 32 points were scored from the free-throw line.

Southwest Missouri committed 29 turnovers, Western Kentucky 28.

Neither team shot well, Western Kentucky making 45.6% of its shots, Southwest Missouri 44%.

The Bears’ leading scorer, Melody Howard, had nine points. The Hilltoppers’ Paulette Monroe, with a 12-point average, scored four.

And then there was Phelke, who somehow managed to perform gracefully through all this mess, finishing with a game-high 30 points.

“She kept it under control for them the whole game,” Burnett said. “It just goes to show what a great athlete she is.”

The 5-foot-7 guard made a three-point basket to put the Hilltoppers ahead, 50-34, with 13:55 to play and followed that with a steal and layup to make it 52-34.

And when Western Kentucky lost 6-5 Trina Wilson to fouls with 11:52 to play; when Debbie Scott was benched for fouls with 10:40 left; and when she was followed by Liesa Lang and Monroe--when suddenly there was hope for Southwest Missouri, there was Pehlke to quash it.

The Bears, largely on the second-half play of forward Tonya Baucom, trailed by six points with 7:36 to play, but they continued to foul Pehlke.

Julie Howard fouled Pehlke, who made two free throws to make it 58-50. Julie’s sister Melody fouled Pehlke, who made both free throws to put the Hilltoppers ahead by 10 points.

Tina Robbins made a three-point basket to cut the Bears’ deficit to seven points with 2:43 to play. Melody Howard then fouled Pehlke, who made both free throws to make it 71-62.

The Bears’ Karen Rapier committed her fifth foul--hitting Pehlke--with 3:02 to play. Secilia Winkfield followed her to the bench with 2:32 left.

Said Rapier, an 11-point scorer who finished with six: “The coaches told us it was the worst game we played all year. I know it was sloppy, but we didn’t mean it to be so bad.”