WOMEN’S BASKETBALL / NCAA WEST REGIONAL : Surprising Texas A&M; Traveling in Fast Lane

Three of the teams in tonight’s semifinals in the NCAA West Regional women’s basketball tournament at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion were expected to get this far.

One was not.

Texas A&M; (23-7), seeded 13th, will play top-seeded Purdue (27-4) in the opener at 6.

Texas A&M; is the lowest-seeded team remaining in the tournament, the next being Alabama, which is sixth in the Midwest.

Second-seeded Stanford (24-5) will play third-seeded Colorado (27-4) at 8:30 in a rematch of a West Regional semifinal last season at Missoula, Mont. That game was won by Colorado, ending Stanford’s reign as national champion.

Although Texas A&M; has size in centers Martha McClelland, who is 6 feet 4, and Kelly Cerny, who is 6-5, its leading scorer is 5-4 guard Lisa Branch, averaging 16.6 points.

“We’re sort of a Mutt-and-Jeff-type team,” Coach Lynn Hickey said.

The Aggies upset fourth-seeded Florida, 78-76, in the first-round at College Station, Tex. The game was supposed to be played at Florida, but was moved because of a Rod Stewart concert.

Texas A&M; defeated San Diego State in overtime, 75-72, on Sunday in a second-round game at San Diego.

Its semifinal opponent surprised a few people this season, too. Purdue was picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten in a preseason poll of conference coaches, but shared the conference title with Penn State.

“Although we are a young team, the experts underestimated our players,” Coach Lin Dunn said. “That was motivational in itself.”

Purdue is led by forwards Leslie Johnson, a 6-1 freshman who averages 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, and Stacey Lovelace, a 6-4 sophomore who averages 11.6 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Stanford has not forgotten last season’s loss to Colorado.

“I think this will be a little bit motivational for us,” Coach Tara VanDerveer said.

The Cardinal is led in scoring by Anita Kaplan, a 6-5 junior center who averages 16.4 points, and in rebounding by Rachel Hemmer, a 6-3 junior forward who averages 7.8.

One player the Cardinal is concerned about is Buffalo guard Shelley Sheetz, who scored 28 points the last time these teams met.

Sheetz, a junior, averages 13.5 points. Jamillah Lang, a 6-0 senior forward, averages 19.3.