LAS VEGAS — The BYU women's basketball team lost twice to New Mexico last weekend — one was a game, the other was a coin toss.
Both defeats cost the Cougars in terms of their seeding and first-round pairing in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which begins today.
BYU (16-11 overall, 8-6 MWC) faces UNLV (18-8, 8-6) at 7 p.m. in quarterfinal action. The game will be aired on tape delay at 10:35 p.m. on Ch. 5.
The Cougars probably have the most difficult draw of any team in the women's tournament. First, they must play UNLV on the Rebels' home court, the Thomas & Mack Center.
If BYU manages to get past UNLV, it would almost certainly face No. 14 ranked Utah, which went 14-0 in the regular season, in the semifinals on Friday. The Utes take on eighth seed Air Force tonight at 9:30.
"We have a tough route," said coach Trent Shippen. "This might be the toughest in the tournament."
The Cougars created this predicament for themselves last weekend. On Thursday, they lost at home to New Mexico before concluding the season with a victory over Air Force on Saturday. BYU finished in a three-way tie for third place in the league standings with New Mexico and UNLV.
The Cougars ended up with the fourth seed after losing a coin toss tie-breaker Saturday night. That earned BYU a date with homestanding UNLV, the fifth seed.
"It would have been much better to be the third seed," Shippen said. "If we would have won that coin flip, things would be a lot different."
BYU split with UNLV in the regular season, falling 61-50 in Las Vegas in January. The Cougars edged the Rebels in Provo, 89-83, last month.
"They're probably the most talented, most athletic team in the conference," Shippen said.
UNLV is led by MWC co-player of the year Linda Frohlich, who averages 19.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
BYU was well-represented on the all-conference team as well. Guard Erin Thorn was named to the MWC first team, and another guard, Stacy Jensen, was included on the second team. Freshman Julie Whetten was the league's newcomer of the year.
Despite the challenging bracket the Cougars have to work with, Shippen is optimistic about his team's chances. "We've been playing well lately," the coach said. "Beating UNLV is the key to our success this week. I think we can (beat) Utah on a neutral floor."
E-MAIL: jeffc@desnews.com